University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


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1798 


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Ttublinm  170U 

As  an   imprint  alone  a  very  rare  book  in 
this  collection   is  a  copy  of  "  Notes  on  the 
State  of  Virginia  ;  Written  in  the  Year  1781, 
Somewhat    corrected    and  enlarged   in  the 
Winter  of  1782,  for  the  use  of  a  Foreigner  of 
distinction,  in  Answer  to  Certain  Queries  pro- "  T~\  A  " 
posed  by  him."    This  book  was  privately  -•*--' -^ 
printed  in  Paris  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  is 

rthe  first  edition.     It  bears  James  Bartram's 
signature. 

In  a  volume  entitled  "Select  Pamphlets"  ' 
was  found  several  rare  publications,  among 
them  one  entitled  "A  New  Method  of  Propa- 
gating Fruit  Trees  and  Flowering  Shrubs,   ED  BY 
whereby  the  common  kinds  may  be  raised 
more  expeditiously  and  several  curious  ex- 
otics increased,  which  will  not  take  root  from  ; 
cuttings  or  layers.     Confirmed  by  repeated 
and    successful    experience.       By    Thomas  jn  ARY 
Barnes,  gardener  to  William  Thomson,  Esq.,  j 
at  Elsham,  in  Lincolnshire.     Second  Edition.  ; 
London :    Printed  for  R.  Baldwin  in  Pater- 


noster  row,  and  J.  Jackson  in  St.  James 
street.  1759.  Price,  one  shilling  and  six- 
pence." Written  in  a  crabbed  and  scrawling 


ch  the 
A  Gift 
ill  the 

hand  across  the  top  of  the  title  page  is  the  'orical 
following  inscription :    "John  Bartram — his  [ 
book."  3 

Another  rare  pamphlet,  in  this  same  L[istor- 
yolume,  which  belonged  to  John  Bartram,  r.  quite 
was  printed  by  Benjamin  Franklin  in  1749,  [ivh 
and  relates  to  education  in  Pennsylvania.  i-readj 


A  book  of  much  interest  is  "The  Language  ^ 
of  Botany,"  printed  in  London  in  1794.     On  KBart 


the  title  page  of  this  volume  can  be  read  : 


;-;tinc- 
nthe 


. 

g    * 
r>  a 
from 


Hamilton's  Book,  purchased  December  20, 
1803,  of  B.  McMahon.  Price,  3  dolls."  On  the  pur- 
inside  cover  of  the  book  William  Hamilton's  'R:.  new 
book  plate  is  also  to  be  seen.  The  inscription  is  51  citi- 
in  Hamilton's  hand  writing.  He  wasthe  owner  p  ^no 
of  the  beautiful  spot  called  "The  Wood-  m  sm._ 
lands."  Mr.  Hamilton  was  a  man  possessed  >l 
of  a  high  degree  of  taste.  He  was  fond  of  i*. 
botany  and  had  a  magnificent  collection  of 
exotics  and  a  remarkable  number  of  plants 
from  New  Holland  upon  his  place.  He  lived  %\ 
in  costly  style  and  entertained  extensively.  X 
For  many  years  Mr.  Hamilton  was  on  inti-  f* 
mate  terms  with  the  Bartram  family,  and  bi 
their  famous  garden  was  but  a  short  walk  r 
from  his  house. ^  Doubtless  he  presented  the  j ' 
book  in  question  to  William  Bartrara.  Ber-  u 
nard  McMahon,  from  whom  Mr.  Hamilton 
purchased  the  volume,  was  an  Irish  refugee, 
who  became  quite  famous  in  Philadelphia  as 
a  botanist,  and  the  proprietor  of  &  bot^ir 
garden  near  Gerniantown. 

A  book  to  which  considerable  value  is  at 
tached  is  William    Bai'tram's  own   copy 
his    book.    "Travels    Through    North__i 


THE 


BOTANIC  GARDEN, 

A  PQEM, 


m-.  '  v 

THE 


BOTANIC  GARDEN 

A   POEM, 
IN    TWO    PARTS, 


PART    I. 

CONTAINING 

THE  ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION. 

PART  II. 
THE  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS. 

WITH 

PHILOSOPHICAL  NOTES. 

*Tbt  Jirjt  American  Edition. 


NEW-  YORK: 

Printed  by  T.  tf  J.  SWORDS,  Printers  to  the  Faculty  of  Phyfic 
of  Columbia  College,  No.  99  Pearl-ftreet. 

1798. 


ADVERTISEMENT 

TO    THE 

AMERICAN    EDITION, 


HE  fuccefs  of  "  THE  BOTANIC  GARDEN"  ha3 
been  fo  great  in  Europe,  and  its  reputation  is  fo  well 
eftablifhed  in  America,  that  it  would  betray  a  culpa- 
ble vanity  in  the  Publiihers,  were  they  to  attempt, 
by  any  thing  that  they  could  offer  in  this  place,  to 
recommend  the  Poem  to  the  further  patronage  of 
their  fellow-citizens.  They  may  be  indulged,  howr 
ever,  in  a  few  remarks  on  the  advantages  of  the  pre- 
fent  edition. 

The  London  copy,  in  quarto,  fells  for  twelve  dol- 
lars and  upwards  in  America;  a  price  which  readers 
of  Poetry,  and  even  fludents  of  Nature,  in  this  coun- 
try, can  feldom  conveniently  pay.  It  is,  befide,  more 
adapted  for  a  library  than  for  daily  ufet 

Trie  Dublin  edition,  in  oftavo,  which  has  princi* 
pally  circulated  in  the  United  States,  is  deficient  both 
in  correctnefs  and  in  many  plates,  efTential  to  the 
thorough  comprehenfion  of  feveral  parts  of  the  work, 
It  is  in  two  feparate  volumes ;  and  bears  a  price  dif- 
proportionate  to  its  value  as  a  book. 

In  the  prefent  edition,  the  Publifhers  have  endea- 
voured to  reconcile  the  two  extremes ;  and  to  attain 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

convenience  and  cheapnefs,  without  any  cenfurable 
facrifice  of  corre&nefs  and  elegance.  In  their  edition, 
the  Poem  is  comprized  in  a  fingle  volume  of  commo- 
dious form ;  the  type  and  paper  are  fuperior  to  thofe 
of  the  Irifh,  and,  perhaps,  not  inferior  to  thofe  of  the 
Englifh  copies ;  no  plates,  but  fuch  as  are  merely  or- 
namental, and  of  thefe  only  four  out  of  twenty-one 
plates  in  all,  have  been  omitted ;  thofe  which  are  in- 
ferted  are  executed  in  the  befl  manner  the  ftate  of 
the  arts  in  this  city  will  admit :  and  there  is  reafon  to 
believe  that  few  errors  are  difcoverable  in  the  letter- 
prefs. 

On  the  whole,  the  Publifhers  venture  to  believe 
that  they  (hall  be  found  to  have  fulfilled  every  expec- 
tation which  they  raifed  by  their  propofals ;  and  that 
they  fhall  have  acquitted  themfelves,  in  this  under- 
taking, to  general  fatisfadlion. 

Ncw~Yorl9  March  2O,   1798. 


EPISTLE 

70  THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE  BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


JL  OR  unknown  ages,  'mid  his  wild  abode, 
Speechless  and  rude,  the  human  savage  trode; 
By  slow  degrees  expressive  sounds  acquired, 
And  simple  thoughts  in  words  uncouth  attired. 
As  growing  wants  and  varying  climes  arise, 
Excite  desire  and  animate  surprize, 
Gradual  his  mind  a  wider  circuit  ranged, 
His  manners  soften'd,  and  his  language  changed; 
And  grey  experience,  wiser  than  of  yore, 
Bequeath'd  its  strange  traditionary  lore. 

Again  long  ages  mark  the  flight  of  time, 
And  lingering  toil  evolves  the  Art  divine. 
Coarse -drawings,  first,  the  imperfeft  thought  re  veal'd; 
Next,  barbarous  forms  the  mystic  sense  concealed;. 
Capricious  signs  the  meaning,  then,  disclose; 
And,  last,  the  infant  alphabet  arose: 
From  N*ilus'  banks  adventurous  CADMUS  errs, 
And  on  his  Thebes  the  peerless  boon  confers.  •' 

Slow  spread  the  sacred  art,  its  use  was  slow : 
Whate'er  the  improvements  later  times  bestow, 
Still  how  restrain'd,  how  circumscrib'd,  its  power ! 
Years  raise  the  fruit  an  instant  may  devour. 
Fond  SCIENCE  wept;  the  uncertain  toil  she  view'd, 
And,  in  the  evil,  half  forgot  the  good. 
What  tho'  the  sage,  and  tho'  the  bard  inspired, 
By  truth  illumined,  and  by  genius  fired, 
In  high  discourse  the  theme  divine  prolong, 
And  pour  the  glowing  tide  of  lofty  song; 
To  princes  limited,  to  Plutus'  sons, 
Tyrants  of  mines  and  heritors  of  thrones, 


fePISTLE 

The  theme,  the  song,  scarce  toucht  the  general  mind; 

Lost,  or  secluded  from  opprest  mankind. 

Fond  SCIENCE  wept;  how  vain  her  cares  she  saw, 

Subject  to  Fortune's  ever-varying  law. 

Month  after  month  a  single  transcript  claim'd, 

The  style  perchance,  perchance  the  story,  maim'd  j — . 

*  The  guides  to  truth  corrupted,  or  destroy'd, 

A  passage  foisted,  or  a  painful  void, 

The  work  of  ignorance,  or  of  fraud  more  bold, 

To  blast  a  rival,  or  a  scheme  uphold  ;-^- 

Or,  in  the  progress  of  the  long  review, 

The  original  perisht  as  the  copy  grew ; 

Or,  perfect  both,  while  pilgrim  bands  admire, 

The  instant  prey  of  accidental  fire. 

Fond  SCIENCE  wept;  whate'er  of  costliest  use, 

The  gift  and  glory  of  each  favouring  Muse; 

From  every  land  what  genius  might  select; 

What  wealth  might  purchase,  and  what  power  protect; 

The  guides  of  youth,  the  comforters  of  age; 

Swept  by  the  besom  of  barbaric  rage, — 

Scarce  a  few  fragments  scatter'd  o'er  the  field,-— 

Frantic,  in  one  sad  moment,  she  beheld. 

"  Nor  shall  such  toil  my  generous  sons  subdue ; 

*'  Nor  waste  like  this  again  distress  the  view !" 

She  cries: — where  Harlem's  classic  groves 

Embowering  rise,  with  silent  flight  she  moves; 

She  marks  LAURENTIUS  carve  the  beechen  rind, 

And  darts  a  new  creation  on  his  mind: 

A  sudden  rapture  thrills  the  conscious  shades; 

The  gift  remains,  the  bounteous  vision  fades. 

Homeward,  entranced,  the  Belgic  Sire  returns; 

New  hope  inspires  him,  and  new  ardor  burns; 

Secret,  he  meditates  his  art  by  day ; 

By  night  fair  phantoms  o'er  his  fancy  stray ; 

With  opening  morn  they  rush  upon  his  soul, 

Nor  cares,  nor  duties,  banish  nor  control ; 

Haunt  his  sequestered  path,  his  social  scene, 

And,  in  his  prayers,  seductive,  intervene; 

*  The  four  following  lines  were  fupplied  by  a  friend, 


TO  DR.  DARWIN. 

Till,  shaped  to  method,  simple,  and  complete, 

The  filial  ear  the  joyful  tidings  greet.* 

— First,  their  nice  hands  the  temper'd  letter  frame, 

Alike  in  height,  in  width,  in  depth,  the  same; 

Peep  in  the  matrices  secure  infold, 

And  fix  within,  and  justify,  the  mould; 

The  red  amalgam  from  the  cauldron  take, 

And  flaming  pour,  and,  as  they  pour  it,  shake; 

On  the  hard  table  spread  the  type  congeal'd, 

And  smooth  and  polish  on  its  marble  field ; 

While,  as  his  busy  fingers  either  plies, 

The  embrion  parts  of  future  volumes  rise. 

— Next,  with  wise  care,  the  slender  plate  they  choose, 

Of  shining  steel,  and  fit,  with  harden'd  screws, 

The  shifting  sliders^  which  the  varying  line 

Break  into  parts,  or  yet  as  one  confine; 

Whence,  firmly  bound,  and  fitted  for  the  chase^ 

Imposed^  it  rests  upon  the  stony  base; 

Till,  hardly  driven,  the  many-figured  quoins 

Convert  to  forms  the  accumulated  lines. 

— Then,  with  new  toil,  the  upright  frame  they  shape, 

And  strict  connect  it  by  the  solid  cajt; 

The  moving  head  still  more  the  frame  combines; 

The  guiding  shelf  its  humbler  tribute  joins; 

While  the  stout  ivinter  erring  change  restrains, 

And  bears  the  carriage,  and  the  press  sustains: 

The  flatten  these,  and  spindle  well  connect, 

Four  slender  bars  support  it,  and  direct, 

As  the  high  handle,  urging  from  above, 

Downwards  and  forceful  bids  its  pressure  move: 

Beneath,  \\\\\i plank  the  patient  carriage  spread, 

Lifts  the  smooth  marble  on  its  novel  bed, 

Rides  on  its  wheeled  spit  in  rapid  state, 

Nor  fears  to  meet  the  quick-descending  weight. 

— Last,  the  wise  Sire  the  ready  form  supplies, 

With  cautious  hands  and  scrutinizing  eyes; 


*  Laurentius  first  confided  the  secret  of  his  discovery  to  his  son-in-law.-? 
The  reasons  for  the  subsequent  deviations  from  historical  accuracy,  will  be, 
obvious  to  the  poetic  reader. 


EPISTLE 

Fits  the  moist  tympan^ — (while  the  Youth,   intent, 
With  Jiatting  balls,  applies  the  sable  paint,) 
Then  lowers  ti\z  frisket,  turns  the  flying  rounce^ 
And  pulls  amain  the  forceful  bar  at  once; 
A  second  turn,  a  second  pressure,  gives, 
And  on  the  sheet  the  fair  impression  lives. 
Raptured,  the  Youth  and  reverend  Sire  behold, 
Press  to  their  lips  and  to  their  bosoms  fold ; 
Mingle  their  sighs,  ecstatic  tears  descend, 
And,  face  to  face,  in  silent  union  blend  : 
Fond  SCIENCE  triumphs,  and  rejoicing  Fame, 
From  pole  to  pole,  resounds  LAURENTIUS'  name. 

Hence,  doom'd  no  more  to  barbarous  zeal  a  prey, 
Genius  and  Taste  their  treasured  stores  display; 
Nor  lords,  nor  monks,  alone,  the  sweets  procure, 
But  old  and  young,  the  humble  and  the  poor. 

Hence,  wide  diffused,  increasing  knowlege  flies, 
And  error's  shades  forsake  the  jaundiced  eyes ; 
Man  knows  himself  for  man,  and  sees,  elate, 
The  kinder  promise  of  his  future  fate; 
Nations,  ashamed,  their  ancient  hate  forego, 
And  find  a  brother,  where  they  found  a  foe. 

Hence,  o'er  the  world, — (what  else  perchance  conceal'd, 
Supprest  for  ages,  or  fore'er  withheld, 
To  one  small  town,  or  shire,  or  state,  confined, 
In  merit's  spite  to  long  neglect  consign'd, 
The  sport  or  victim  of  some  envious  flame, 
Whence  care  nor  art  might  rescue  nor  reclaim,) — 
Flies  the  BOTANIC  SONG;  around 
Successive  nations  catch  the  enchanting  sound, 
Glow  as  they  listen,  wonder  as  they  gaze, 
And  pay  the  instructive  page  with  boundless  praise: 
For  not  to  Britain's  parent  isle  alone, 
Or  what  the  East  encircles  with  her  zone, 
The  bounty  flows;  but  spreads  to  neighbouring  realms, 
And  a  new  hemisphere  with  joy  o'erwhelms. 


TO  DR.  DARWIN. 

Here,  read  with  rapture,  studied  with  delight, 
Long  shall  it  charm  the  taste,  the  thought  excite; 
And  youths  and  maids,  the  parent  and  the  child, 
Their  minds  illumined,  and  their  griefs  beguiled, 
By  all  of  fancy,  all  of  reason,  moved, 
Rise  from  the  WORK  invigor'd  and  improved. 

Nor  only  here,  nor  only  wow,  enjoy 'd  : — 
Where  opes  the  interior  desolate  and  void ; 
Where  Mississippi's  turbid  waters  glide, 
And  white  Missouri  pours  its  rapid  tide; 
Where  vast  Superior  spreads  its  inland  sea, 
And  the  pale  tribes  near  icy  confines  stray; 
"  Where  now  Alaska  lifts  its  forests  rude, 
"  And  Nootka  rolls  her  solitary  flood;"* 
Where  the  fierce  sun  with  ray  severer  rains 
His  floods  of  light  o'er  Amazonian  plains; 
Where,  land  of  horrors !  roam  the  giant  brood, 
On  the  bleak  margin  of  the  antarctic  flood; 
In  future  years,  in  ages  long  to  come, — 
When  redient  Justice  finds  again  her  home;  — 
Known,  honour 'd,  studied,  graced  with  nobler  fame, 
Its  charms  unfaded,  and  its  worth  the  same, 
To  vaster  schemes  shall  light  the  kindling  view, 
And  lift  to  heights  no  earlier  era  knew. 
Some  ardent  youth,  some  Fair  whose  beauties  shine, 
In  mind,  as  person,  only  not  divine, — 
In  halls  where  Montezuma  erst  sat  throned^ 
Whom  thirty  princes  as  their  sovereign  own'd; — • 
In  bowers  where  Manco  labour'd  for  Peru, 
While  the  white  thread  his  blest  Oella  drew, — 
\Vhere  Ataliba  met  a  tyrant's  rage, — 
Entranced,  shall  ponder  o'er  the  various  page; 
Or,  where  Oregon  foams  along  the  West, 
And  seeks  the  fond  Pacific's  tranquil  breast, 


*  This  couplet  is  from  an  unpublished  Poem  of  my  friend  Mr.  Richard 
Alsop;  a  poet  who,  were  his  ambition  equal  to  his  talents,  would  appear 
among  the  poets  of  his  time  "  velut  Inter  ignes  luna  minores" 


fePISTLE  TO  Dfe.  DARWIN. 

With  kindred  spirit  strike  the  sacred  lyre, 
And  bid  the  nations  listen  and  admire. 

Hence  keen  incitement  prompt  the  prying  mindj 
By  treacherous  fears  nor  palsied  nor  confined, 
Its  curious  search  embrace  the  sea,  and  shore* 
And  mine  and  oceanj  earth  and  air,  explore. 

Thus  shall  the  years  proceed,  —  till  growing  time 
Unfold  the  treasures  of  each  differing  clime; 
Till  one  vast  brotherhood  mankind  unite 
In  equal  bands  of  knowlege  and  of  right  : 
Then,  the  proud  column,  to  the  smiling  skiesj 
In  simple  majesty  sublime  shall  rise, 
O'er  Ignorance  foii'd,  their  triumph  loud  proclaim, 
And  bear  inscribed,  immortal,  DARWIN'S  name. 


E,  H.  SMITH. 

March)   1798. 


ADVERTISEMENT 


TO    THE 


LONDON     EDITION. 


HE  general  deflgn  of  the  following  fheets  is  to 
inlift  Imagination  under  the  banner  of  Science ;  and 
to  lead  her  votaries  from  the  loofer  analogies,  which 
drefs  out  the  imagery  of  poetry,  to  the  ftricter  ones, 
which  form  the  ratiocination  of  philofophy.  While 
their  particular  defign  is  to  induce  the  ingenious  to 
cultivate  the  knowledge  of  Botany,  by  introducing 
them  to  the  veflibule  of  that  delightful  fcience,  and 
recommending  to  their  attention  the  immortal  works 
of  the  celebrated  Swedifh  Naturalift,  LINNAEUS. 

In  the  firft  Poem,  or  Economy  of  Vegetation,  the 
phyfiology  of  Plants  is  delivered;  and  the  operation 
of  the  Elements,  as  far  as  they  may  be  fuppofed  to 
affect  the  growth  of  Vegetables.  In  the  fecond 
Poem,  or  Loves  of  the  Plants,  the  Sexual  Syftem  of 
Linnseus  is  explained,  with  the  remarkable  properties 
of  many  particular  plants* 


TO 

THE  AUTHOR 

OF    THE 

POEM  ON  THE  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS. 

£T  THE  REV.  W.  B.  STEP  ENS. 


VxFT  tho'  thy  genius,  DARWIN!  amply  fraught 
With  native  wealth,  explore  new  worlds  of  mind; 

Whence  the  bright  ores  of  drossless  wisdom  brought, 
Stampt  by  the  Muse's  hand,  enrich  mankind; 

Tho'  willing  Nature  to  thy  curious  eye, 
Involved  in  night,  her  mazy  depths  betray; 

Till  at  their  source  thy  piercing  search  descry 
The  streams,  that  bathe  with  Life  our  mortal  clay; 

Tho',  boldly  soaring  in  sublimer  mood 

Through  trackless  skies,  on  metaphysic^igs, 

Thou  darest  to  scan  the  approachless  Cause  of  Good,. 
And  weigh,  with  stedfast  hand,  the  sum  of  Things; 

Yet  wilt  thou,  charm'd  amid  his  whispering  bowers, 
Oft  with  lone  step  by  glittering  Derwent  stray, 

Mark  his  green  foliage,  count  his  musky  flowers, 
That  blush  or  tremble  to  the  rising  ray; 

While  FANCY,  seated  in  her  rock-roof 'd  dell, 
Listening  the  secrets  of  the  vernal  grove, 

Breathes  sweetest  strains  to  thy  symphonious  shell, 
And  "  gives  new  echoes  to  the  throne  of  Love." 

Rejiton,  Nov.  28,  1788. 


(     viii     ) 

TO 

DR.   DARWIN. 


w 


HILE  Sargent  winds,  with  fond  and  curious  eyes, 

Thro'  every  mazy  region  of  "  the  mine " 

While,  as  entrancing  forms  around  him  rise, 
With  magic  light  the  mineral  kingdoms  shine; 

Behold !  amid  the  vegetable  bloom, 

0  DARWIN,  thy  ambrosial  rivers  flow, 
And  suns  more  pure  the  fragrant  earth  illume, 

As  all  the  vivid  plants  with  passion  glow. 

Yes! — and,  where'er  with  life  creation  teems, 

1  trace  thy  spirit  thro'  the  kindling  whole; 
As  with  new  radiance  to  the  genial  beams 

Of  Science,  isles  emerge,  or  oceans  roll, 
And  Nature,  in  primordial  beauty,  seems 

To  breathe,  inspir'd  by  Thee,  the  PHILOSOPHIC  SOUL! 

R.  POLWHELE. 

Kenton,  near  Exeter •,  April  18,  1792. 


TO 

DR.   DARWIN. 

JL  WO  Poets,  (poets,  by  report, 

Not  oft  so  well  agree) 
Sweet  harmonist  of  Flora's  court ! 
Conspire  to  honour  Thee. 

They  best  can  judge  a  poet's  worth, 
Who  oft  themselves  have  known 

The  pangs  of  a  poetic  birth, 
By  labours  of  their  own. 


We,  therefore,  pleas'd,  extol  thy  song, 

Though  various  yet  complete, 
Rich  in  embellishment,  as  strong 

And  learn'd  as  it  is  sweet. 

No  envy  mingles  with  our  praise, 

Though  could  our  hearts  repine 
At  any  Poet's  happier  lays, 

They  would,  they  must,  at  thine. 

But  we  in  mutual  bondage  knit 

Of  Friendship's  closest  tie, 
Can  gaze  on  even  DARWIN'S  wit 

With  an  unjaundic'd  eye; 

And  deem  the  bard,  whoe'er  he  be, 

And  howsoever  known, 
Who  would  not  twine  a  wreath  for  Thee, 

Unworthy  of  his  own. 

WM.  COWPER. 

West  on  Underwood,  Olney^  Bucks ,  June  23,   1793. 


TO 

DR.   DARWIN, 


.S  Nature  lovely  Science  led 
Thro'  all  her  flow'ry  maze, 
The  volume  she  before  her  spread 
Qf  DARWIN'S  radiant  lays. 

Coy  Science  starts — so  started  Eve 
At  beauties  yet  unknown  : 

"  The  figure  that  you  there  perceive 
(Said  l^ature)  is  your  own." 
b 


(  *  ) 

"  My  own  ?  It  is : — but  half  so  fair 

"  I  never  seem'd  till  now  : 
"  And  here,  too,  with  a  soften'd  air, 

"  Sweet  Nature!  here  art  Thou." 

"  Yes — in  this  mirrour  of  the  Bard 

"  We  both  embellish'd  shine 
**  And  grateful  will  unite  to  guard 

"  An  artist  so  divine." 

Thus  Nature  and  thus  Science  spake 

In  Flora's  friendly  bower; 
While  DARWIN'S  glory  seem'd  to  wake 

New  life  in  every  flower. 

This  with  delight  two  Poets  heard; 

Time  verifies  it  daily; 
Trust  it,  dear  DARWIN,  on  the  word 

Of  COWPER  and  of  HAYLEY!—- 

W.  HAYLEY. 

Mar  Chichester,  June  27,  1792. 


Addrefs  to  the  River  Derwent,  on  whofe  Banks  the 
Author  of  the  Botanic  Garden  rejides. 


By  F.  N.  C.  MVNDT,  Efq.  1792. 


D 


ERWENT,  like  thee  thy  Poet's  splendid  song 
With  sweet  vicissitudes  of  ease  and  force 
Now  with  enchanting  smothness  glides  along, 
Now  pours  impetuous  its  resounding  course; 

While  Science  marches  down  thy  wond'ring  dells, 
And  all  the  Muses  round  her  banners  crowd, 

Pleas'd  to  assemble  in  thy  sparry  cells, 

And  chant  her  lessons  to  thy  echoes  proud ; 


While  here  Philosophy  and  Truth  display 

The  shining  robes  those  heaven-born  sisters  wove, 

While  Fays  and  Graces  beck'ning  smooth  their  way, 
And  hand  in  hand  with  Flora  follows  Love. 

Well  may  such  radiant  state  increase  thy  pride, 
Delighted  stream  J  tho'  rich  in  native  charms, 

Tho'  inborn  worth  and  honour  still  reside, 
Where  thy  chill  banks  the  glow  of  Qhatsworth  warms. 

Tho'  here  her  new-found  art,,  as  that  of  yore, 

The  spinster  Goddess  to  thy  rule  assigns ; 
Tho',  where  her  temples  crowd  thy  peopled  shore, 

Wealth  gilds  thy  urn,  and  Fame  thy  chaplet  twines. 

Ah,  while  thy  nymphs  in  Derby's  towered  vale 
Lead  their  sad  Quires  around  MILCENA'S  b\er% 

What  soothing  sweetness  breathes  along  the  gale, 
Comes  o'er  the  consort's  heart,  and  balms  a  brother's  tear! 


Her  new-found  art,  bV.  Alluding  to  the  numerous  cotton  mills  on  and 
near  the  river  Derwent. 

MUcenas  bier.  Mrs.  French,  fifter.  to  Mrs.  Mundy.  Part  I.  Canto  HI. 
I.  308. 


BOTANIC  GARDEN, 

PART    I. 


CONTAINING 


THE  ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION. 

A   POEM, 

WITH 

PHILOSOPHICAL  NOTES. 


It  Vcr,  et  Venus;  et  Veneris  praenuncius  ante 

Pennatus  graditur  Zephyrus  veftigia  propter; 

Flora  quibus  mater,  przefpergens  ante  viai 

Cunvfta,  coloribus  egregiis  et  odoribus  opplet.  Luc  RET. 


The  first  American^  from  the  third  London  Edition* 


NEW-YORK; 

Printed  by  T.  &  J.  SWORDS,  Printers  to  the  Faculty  of  Phyfic 
of  Columbia  College,  No.  99  Pearl-ftreet. 

1798. 


APOLOGY. 


XT  may  be  proper  here  to  apologize  for  many  of  the  subsequent 
conjectures  on  some  articles  of  natural  philosophy,  as  not  being 
supported  by  accurate  investigation  or  conclusive  experiments. 
Extravagant  theories,  however,  in  those  parts  of  philosophy  where 
our  knowledge  is  yet  imperfect,  are  not  without  their  use;  as  they 
encourage  the  execution  of  laborious  experiments,  or  the  investi- 
gation of  ingenious  deductions,  to  confirm  or  refute  them.  And, 
since  natural  objects  are  allied  to  each  other  by  many  affinities, 
every  kind  of  theoretic  distribution  of  them  adds  to  our  knowledge 
by  developing  some  of  their  analogies. 

The  Rosicrucian  doctrine  of  Gnomes,  Sylphs,  Nymphs,  and 
Salamanders,  was  thought  to  afford  a  proper  machinery  for  a 
Botanic  poem;  as  it  is  probable,  that  they  were  originally  the 
names  of  hieroglyphic  figures  representing  the  elements. 

Many  of  the  important  operations  of  Nature  were  shadowed 
or  allegorized  in  the  heathen  mythology,  as  the  first  Cupid  spring- 
ing from  the  Egg  of  Night,  the  marriage  of  Cupid  and  Psyche, 
the  Rape  of  Proserpine,  the  Congress  of  Jupiter  and  Juno,  the 
Death  and  Resuscitation  of  Adonis,  &c.  many  of  which  are  in- 
geniously explained  in  the  works  of  Bacon,  vol.  v.  p.  47.  4th 
edit.  London,  1778.  The  Egyptians  were  possessed  of  many 
discoveries  in  philosophy  and  chemistry,  before  the  invention  of 
letters;  these  were  then  expressed  in  hieroglyphic  paintings  of  men 
and  animals ;  which,  after  the  discovery  of  the  alphabet,  were  de- 
scribed and  animated  by  the  poets,  and  became  first  the  deities  of 
Egypt,  and  afterwards  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Allusions  to  those 
fables  were  therefore  thought  proper  ornaments  to  a  philosophical 
poem,  and  are  occasionally  introduced  either  as  represented  by  the 
poets,  or  preserved  on  the  numerous  gems  and  medallions  of  an- 
tiquity. 


ARGUMENT 


or  THE 


FIRS  T   CANTO. 


THE  Genius  of  the  place  invites  the  Goddefs  of  Botany,  I.  She  defcenda; 
is  received  by  Spring,  and  the  Elements,  59.  Addrefles  the  Nymphs  of 
Fire.  Star-light  Night  feen  in  the  Camera  Obfcura,  8l.  I.  Love  created 
the  Univerfe.  Chaos  explodes.  All  the  Stars  revolve.  God,  97.  II.  Shoot- 
ing Stars.  Lightning.  Rainbow.  Colours  of  the  Morning  and  Evening 
Skies.  Exterior  Atmofphere  of  inflammable  Air.  Twilight.  Fire-balls. 
Aurora  Borealis.  Planets.  Comets.  Fixed  Stars.  Sun's  Orb,  115.  III. 
I.  Fires  at  the  Earth's  Centre.  Animal  Incubation,  137.  a.  Volcanic 
Mountains.  Venus  vifits  the  Cyclops,  149.  IV.  Heat  confined  on  the 
Earth  by  the  Air.  Phofphoric  lights  in  the  Evening.  Bolognian  Stone. 
Calcined  Shells.  Memnon's  Harp,  173.  Ignis  Fatuus.  Luminous  Flow- 
ers. Glow-worm.  Fire-fly.  Luminous  Sea-infects.  Electric  Eel.  Eagle 
armed  with  Lightning,  189.  V.  I.  Difcovery  of  Fire.  Medufa,  209.  1. 
The  chemical  Properties  of  Fire.  Phofphorus.  Lady  in  Love,  223.  3. 
Gun-powder,  237.  VIv  Steam-engine  applied  to  Pumps,  Bellows,  "Water- 
engines,  Corn-mills,  Coining,  Barges,  Waggons,  Flying-chariots,  253.  La- 
bours of  Hercules.  Abyla  and  Calpe,  297.  VII.  I.  Electric  Machine. 
Hefperian  Dragon.  Electric  Kifs.  Halo  round  the  Heads  of  Saints.  Elec- 
tric Shock.  Fairy-rings,  335.  a.  Death  of  Profefior  Richman,  371.  3. 
Franklin  draws  Lightning  from  the  Clouds.  Cupid  fnatches  the  Thunder- 
bolt from  Jupiter,  383.  VIII.  Phofphoric  Acid  and  Vital  Heat  produced 
in  the  Blood.  The  great  Egg  of  Night,  399.  IX.  Weftem  Wind  unfet- 
tered. Naiad  releafed,  Froft  aflailed.  Whale  attacked,  421.  X.  Buds 
and  Flowers  expanded  by  Warmth,  Ele$ricity,  and  Light.  Drawings  with 
colourlefs  fympathetic  Inks;  which  appear  when  warmed  by  the  Fire,  457. 
XI.  Sirius.  Jupiter  and  Semele,  Northern  Conftellations.  Ice-Iflands 
navigated  into  the  Tropic  Seas.  Rainy  Monfoons,  497.  XII.  Points 
erected  to  procure  Rain.  Elijah  on  Mount  Carmel,  549.  Departure  of 
the  Nymphs  of  Fire  like  fparks  from  artificial  Fireworks,  587. 


THE 

BOTANIC  GARDEN. 

ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION. 
CANTO  I. 


ur  rudefieps  !  whofe  throbbing  breafts  infold 
The  legion-fiends  of  Glory,  or  of  Gold  ! 
Stay  /  whofe  falfe  lips  fedu&ive  fimpers  part, 
While  Cunning  neftles  in  the  harlot-heart  !  — 
For  you  no  Dryads  drefs  the  rofeate  bower,  5 

For  you  no  Nymphs  their  fparkling  vafes  pour; 
Unmark'd  by  you,  light  Graces  fwim  the  green, 
And  hovering  Cupids  aim  their  (hafts,  unfeen. 

"  But  THOU  !  whofe  mind  the  well-attemper'd  ray 
Of  Tafte  and  Virtue  lights  with  purer  day;  JO 

Whofe  finer  fenfe  each  foft  vibration  owns 
With  fweet  refponfive  fympathy  of  tones  ; 
'  So  the  fair  flower  expands  its  lucid  form 
To  meet  the  fun,  and  {huts  it  to  the  ftorm  ;  — 
For  thee  my  borders  nurfe  the  fragrant  wreath,  15 

My  fountains  murmur,  and  my  zephyrs  breathe; 
Slow  flides  the  painted  mail,  the  gilded  fly 
Smoothes  his  fine  down,  to  charm  thy  curious  eye; 
On  twinkling  fins  my  pearly  nations  play, 
Or  win  with  finuous  train  their  tracklefs  way  ;  20 

So  tie  fair  flower.  1.  17.  It  feems  to  have  been  the  original  defign  of  the 
philofophy  of  Epicurus  to  render  the  mind  exquifitely  fenfible  to  agreeable 
fenfations,  and  equally  infenfible  to  difagreeable  ones. 

PART  I.  B 


*  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

My  plumy  pairs,  in  gay  embroidery  drefs'd, 
Form,  with  ingenious  bill,  the  penfile  neft ; 
To  Love's  fweet  notes  attune  the  liftening  dell, 
And  Echo  founds  her  foft  fymphonious  fhell. 

"  And,  if  with  Thee  fome  haplefs  Maid  fhould  flray,      25 
Difafterous  Love  companion  of  her  way, 
Oh,  lead  her  timid  Heps  to  yonder  glade, 
Whofe  arching  cliffs  depending  alders  fhade; 
There,  as  meek  Evening  wakes  her  temperate  breeze, 
And  moon -beams  glimmer  through  the  trembling  trees,        30 
The  rills,  that  gurgle  round,  fliall  foothe  her  ear, 
The  weeping  rocks  ihall  number  tear  for  tear; 
There,  as  fad  Philomel,  alike  forlorn, 
Sings  to  the  Night  from  her  accuftomed  thorn ; 
While  at  fweet  intervals  each  falling  note  35 

Sighs  in  the  gale,  and  whifpers  round  the  grot; 
The  fifter- woe  (hall  calm  her  aching  bread, 
And  fofter  ilumbers  fteal  her  cares  to  reft. — 

"  Winds  of  the  North!  reftrain  your  icy  gales, 
Nor  chill  the  bofom  of  thefe  happy  vales !  4© 

Hence  in  dark  heaps,  ye  gathering  Clouds,  revolve  ! 
Difperfe,  ye  Lightnings!  and,  ye  Mifts,  diflblve! 
— Hither,  emerging  from  yon  orient  (kies, 
BOTANIC  GODDESS  !  bend  thy  radiant  eyes; 
O'er  thefe  foft  fcenes  aflume  thy  gentle  reign,  45 

Pomona,  Ceres,    Flora  in  thy  train ; 
O'er  the  flill  dawn  thy  placid  fmile  effufe, 
And  with  thy  filver  fandals  print  the  dews ; 
In  noon's  bright  blaze  thy  vermil  veft  unfold, 
And  wave  thy  emerald  banner  ftair'd  with  gold."  50 


i'.s  Love.  I.  %d.  The  fcenery  is  taken  from  a  botanic  garden  about 
a  mile  from  Lichfield,  where  a  cold  bath  was  creeled  by  Sir  John  Floyer. 
There  is  a  grotto  furrounded  by  projecting  rocks,  from  the  edges  of  which 
trickles  a  perpetual  fhower  of  water;  and  it  is  here  reprefented  as  adapted 
to  love-fcenes,  as  being  thence  a  proper  refidence  for  the  modern  goddefs  of 
Botany,  and  the  eaficr  to  introduce  the  next  poem  on  the  Loves  of  the  Flunts, 
according  to  the  fyftem  of  Linnaeus. 


CANTO  I.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  3 

Thus  fpoke  the  GENIUS,  as  he  ftept  along, 
And  bade  thefe  lawns  to  Peace  and  Truth  belong ; 
Down  the  fteep  flopes  He  led,  with  modeft  fkill, 
The  willing  palhway,  and  the  truant  rill, 
Stretch'd  o'er  the  marfhy  vale  yon  willowy  mound,  55 

Where  ihines  the  lake  amid  the  tufted  ground, 
Rais'd  the  young  woodland,  fmooth'd  the  wavy  green, 
And  gave  to  Beauty  all  the  quiet  fcene. — 

She  comes ! — the  GODDESS  ! — through  the  whifpering  air, 
Bright  as  the  morn,  defcends  her  blufhing  car;  60 

Each  circling  wheel  a  wreath  of  flowers  entwines, 
And  gem'd  with  flowers  the  filken  harnefs  fhines ; 
The  golden  bits  with  flowery  ftuds  are  deck'd, 
And  knots  of  flowers  the  crimfon  reins  connect. — 
And  now  on  earth  the  filver  axle  rings,  6.5 

And  the  fhell  finks  upon  its  flerider  fprings ; 
.Light  from  her  airy  feat  the  Goddefs  bounds, 
And  fteps  celeftial  prefs  the  panned  grounds. 

Fair  Spring  advancing  calls  her  featherM  quire, 
And  tunes  to  fofter  notes  her  laughing  lyre ;  70 

Bids  her  gay  hours  on  purple  pinions  move, 
And  arms  her  Zephyrs  with  the  {hafts  of  Love. 
Pleas'd  GNOMES,  afcending  from  their  earthy  beds, 
Play  round  her  graceful  footfteps,  as  fhe  treads ; 
Gay  SYLPHS  attendant  beat  the  fragrant  air  75 

On  winnowing  wings,  and  waft  her  golden  hair; 
Blue  Nymphs  emerging  leave  their  fparkling  flreams, 
And  Fury  Forms  alight  from  orient  beams ; 


Phased  Gnomes.  1.  7^.  The  Rofic'ruciafl  doclrin-e  of  Gnomes,  Sylphs, 
Nymphs,  and  Salamanders,  affords  proper  machinery  for  a  philofophic  poem; 
as  it  is  probable  that  they  were  originally  the  names  of  hieroglyphic  figures 
•of  the  Elements,  or  of  Genii  ptefiding  over  their  operations.  The  Fairies 
of  more  modern  days  feem  to  have  been  derived  from  them,  and  to  have  in- 
herited their  powers.  The  Gnomes  and  Sylphs,  as  being  more  nearly  allied 
to  modern  Fairies,  are  reprefented  as  either  male  or  female,  which  diftin- 
guifhcs  the  latter  from  the  Auras  of  the  Latin  poets,  which  were  only  fe- 
male; except  the  winds,  as  Zephyrus  and  Auiler,  may  be  fuppofed  to  have 
been  their  hufbands. 


4  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Mufk'd  in  the  rofe's  lap  frefli  dews  they  fhed, 

Or  breathe  celeftial  luftres  round  her  head.  80 

*   Firft  the  fine  Forms  her  dulcet  voice  requires, 

Which  bathe  or  ba(k  in  elemental  fires ; 

From  each  bright  gem  of  Day's  refulgent  car, 

From  the  pale  fphere  of  every  twinkling  ftar, 

From  each  nice  pore  of  ocean,  earth,  and  air,  85 

With  eye  of  flame  the  fparkling  hofts  repair, 

Mix  their  gay  hues,  in  changeful  circles  play, 

Like  motes,  that  tenant  the  meridian  ray. — 

So  the  clear  Lens  collects,  with  magic  power, 

The  countlefs  glories  of  the  midnight  hour;  90 

Stars  after  ftars,  with  quivering  luftre  fall, 

And  twinkling  glide  along  the  whiten'd  wall. — 

Pleafed,  as  they  pafs,  fhe  counts  the  glittering  bands, 

And  ftills  their  murmur  with  her  waving  hands ; 

Each  liftening  tribe  with  fond  expectance  burns,  95 

And  now  to  thefe,  and  now  to  thofe,  {he  turns. 

I.  "  Nymphs  of  primeval  Fire  I  your  veftal  train 
Hung  with  gold  treffes  o'er  the  vaft  inane, 


Nymphs  of  primeval  fre.  1.  97.  The  fluid  matter  of  heat  is  perhaps  th'e 
moft  extenfive  element  in  nature ;  all  other  bodies  are  immerfed  in  it,  and 
are  preferved  in  their  prefent  ftate  of  folidity  or  fluidity  by  the  attraction 
of  their  particles  to  the  matter  of  heat.  Since  all  known  bodies  are  con- 
tractible  into  lefs  fpace  by  depriving  them  of  fome  portion  of  their  heat,  and 
as  there  is  no  part  of  nature  totally  deprived  of  heat,  there  is  reafon  to  be- 
lieve that  the  particles  of  bodies  do  not  touch,  but  are  held  towards  each  other 
by  their  felf-attradlion,  and  recede  from  each  other  by  their  attraction  to 
the  mafs  of  heat  which  furrounds  them;  and  thus  exift  in  an  equilibrium 
between  thefe  two  powers.  If  more  of  the  matter  of  heat  be  applied  to 
them,  they  recede  further  from  each  other,  and  become  fluid ;  if  flill  more  be 
applied,  they  take  an  aerial  form,  and  are  termed  Gaffes  by  the  modern  che- 
mifts.  Thus,  when  water  Is  heated  to  a  certain  degree,  it  would  inftantly 
afiume  the  form  of  fteam,  but  for  the  preffure  of  the  atmofphere,  which 
prevents  this  change  from  taking  place  fo  eafily;  the  fame  is  true  of  quick- 
iilver,  diamonds,  and  of,  perhaps,  all  other  bodies  in  Nature ;  they  would 
firft  become  fluid,  and  then  aeriform,  by  appropriated  degrees  of  heat.  On 
the  contrary,  this  elaftic  matter  of  heat,  termed  Calorique  in  the  new  no- 
menclature of  the  French  Academicians,  is  liable  to  become  confolidated  it- 
felf  in  its  combinations  with  fome  bodies,  as  perhaps  in  nitre,  and  probably 
in  combuftible  bodies,  as  fulphur  and  charcoal.  See  note  on  1.  2.32  of  this 
Canto.  Modern  philosophers  have  not  yet  been  able  to  decide  whether 


C  ANTO  I.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  5 

Pierc'd  with  your  filver  {hafts  the  throne  of  Night, 

And  charm'd  young  Nature's  opening  eyes  with  light;     100 

When  Love  Divine,  with  brooding  wings  unfurl'd, 

Call'd  from  the  rude  ahyfs  the  living  world. 

" — Let  there  be  Light!  proclaim'd  the  Almighty  LORD, 

Aftonilh'd  Chaos  heard  the  potent  word ; — 

Through  all  his  realms  the  kindling  Ether  runs,  105 

And  the  rnafs  ftarts  into  a  million  funs; 


light  and  heat  be  different  fluids,  or  modifications  of  the  fame  fluid,  as  they 
have  many  properties  in  common.  See  note  on  1.  468  of  this  Canto. 

When  Love  Divine.  1.  ioi.  From  having  obferved  the  gradual  evolution 
of  the  young  animal  or  plant  from  its  egg  or  feed ;  and  afterwards  its  fuc- 
ceflive  advances  to  its  more  perfect  ftate,  or  maturity ;  philofophers  of  all 
ages  feem  to  have  imagined,  that  the  great  world  itfelf  had  likewife  its  in- 
fancy, and  its  gradual  progrefs  to  maturity :  this  feems  to  have  given  origin 
to  the  very  ancient  and  fublime  allegory  of  Eros,  or  Divine  Love,  produc- 
ing the  world  from  the  egg  of  Night,  as  it  floated  in  Chaos.  See  1.  419  of 
this  Canto. 

The  external  cruft  of  the  earth,  as  far  as  it  lias  been  expofed'to  our  view, 
in  mines  or  mountains,  countenances  this  opinion;  fince  thefe  have  evidently, 
for  the  moft  part,  had  their  origin  from  the  fhells  of  fifties,  the  decompofi- 
tion  of  vegetables,  and  the  recrements  of  other  animal  materials,  and  muft, 
therefore,  have  been  formed  progreffively  from  fmall  beginnings.  There 
are  likewife  fome  apparently  uielefs  or  incomplete  appendages  'to  plants  and 
animals,  which  feem  to  fhew  they  have  gradually  undergone  changes  from 
their  original  ftate ;  fuch  as  the  ftamens  without  anthers,  and  ftyles  without 
ftigmas  of  "feveral  plants,  as  mentioned  in  the  note  on  Curcuma,  vol.  ii.  of 
this  work.  Such  as  the  halteres,  or  rudiments  of  wings  of  fome  two-wing- 
ed infects;  and  the  paps  of  male  animals;  thus  fwine  have  four  toes,  but  two 
of  them  are  imperfectly  formed,  and  not  long  enough  for  ufe.  The  allan- 
toide  in  fome  animals  feems  to  have  become  extinct ;  in  others,  is  above  ten- 
fold the  fize  which  would  feem  neceffary  for  its  purpofe.  BufFon  du  Co- 
chon,  T.  6.  p.  25".  Perhaps  all  the  fuppofed  monftrous  births  of  Nature 
are  remains  of  their  habits  of  production  in  their  former  lefs  perfect  ftate, 
or  attempts  towards  greater  perfection. 

Through  all  his  realms.  1.  IOJ.  Mr.  Herfchel  has  given  a  very  fublime 
and  curious  account  of  the  conftruction  of  the  heavens,  with  his  difcovery 
of  fome  thoufand  nebulae,  or  clouds  of  ftars ;  many  of  which  are  much  larger 
collections  of  ftars  than  all  thofe  put  together,  which  are  vifible  to  our 
naked  eyes,  added  to  thofe  which  form  the  galaxy,  or  milky  zone  which 
furrounds  us.  He  obferves,  that  in  the  vicinity  of  thefe  clufters  of  ftars 
there  are  proportionally  fewer  ftars  than  in  other  parts  of  the  heavens;  and 
hence  he  concludes,  that  they  have  attracted  each  other,  on  the  fuppofition 
that  infinite  fpace  was  at  firft  equally  fprinkled  with  them ;  as  if  it  had,  at 
the  beginning,  been  filled  with  a  fluid  mafs,  which  had  coagulated.  Mr. 
Herfchel  has  further  fhewn,  that  the  whole  fidereal  fyftem  is  gradually  mov- 
ing round  fome  centre,  which  may  be  an  opake  mafs  of  matter.  Philof. 
Tranf.  V.  LXXIV.  If  all  thefe  funs  are  moving  round  fome  great  central 
body,  they  muft  have  had  a  projectile  force,  as  well  as  a  centripetal  one; 
and  may  thence  be  fuppofed  to  have  emerged  or  been  projected  from  the 


6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I, 

Earths  round  each  fun  with  quick  explofions  burft, 
And  fecond  planets  ifTue  from  the  firft; 
Bend,  as  they  journey  with  projectile  force, 
Jn  bright  ellipfes  their  reludiant  courfe;  1 10 

Orbs  wheel  in  orbs,  round  centres  centres  roll, 
And  form,  felf-balanced,  one  revolving  Whole. 
• — Onward  they  move  amid  their  bright  abode, 
Space  without  bound,  the  bofom  of  their  GOD  ! 
tjp 

II.  "  Ethereal  powers  !  you  chafe  the  fhooting  flars,      115 
Or  yoke  the  vollied  lightnings  to  your  cars, 
Cling  round  the  aerial  bow  with  prifms  bright, 
And,  pleafed,   untwift  the  fevenfold  threads  of  light; 
Eve's  filken  couch  with  gorgeous  tints  adorn, 
And  fire  the  arrowy  throne  of  rifing  Morn.  120 

—Or,  plum'd  with  flame,  in  gay  battalions  fpring, 
To  brighter  regions  borne  on  broader  wing; 

material  where  they  were  produced.  We  can  have  no  idea  of  a  natural 
power  which  could  project  a  fun  out  of  Chaos,  except  by  comparing  it  to 
the  explofions  or  earthquakes  owing  to  the  fudden  evolution  of  aqueous  or  of 
other  more  elaftic  vapours;  of  the  power  of  which,  under  immeafurable  de- 
grees of  heat  and  compreflion,  we  are  yet  ignorant. 

It  may  be  objected,  that  if  the  ftars  had'been  projected  from  a  Chaos  by 
explofions,  they  muft  have  returned  again  into  it  from  the  known  laws  of 
gravitation;  this,  however,  would  not  happen  if  the  whole  of  Chaos,  like 
.grains  of  gunpowder,  was  exploded  at  the  fame  time,  and  difperfed  through 
infinite  fpace  at  once,  or  in  quick  fucceflion,  in  every  poffible  direction. 
The  fame  objection  may  be  ftated  againft  the  pofiibility  of  the  planets  hav- 
ing been  thrown  from  the  fun  by  explofions;  and  the  fecondary  planets 
from  the  primary  ones,  which  will  be  fpoken  of  more  at  large  in  the  fecond 
Canto.  But  if  the  planets  are  fuppofed  to  have  been  projected  from  their 
funs,  and  the  fecondary  from  the  primary  ones,  at  the  beginning  of  their 
courfe,  they  might  be  fo  influenced  or  diverted  by  the  attractions  of  the 
funs,  or  fun,  in  their  vicinity,  as  to  prevent  their  tendency  to  return  into  the 
body  from  which  they  were  projected. 

If  thefe  innumerable  and  immenfe  funs,  thus  rifing  out  of  Chaos,  are  fup- 
pofed to  have  thrown  out  their  attendant  planets  by  new  explofions,  as  they 
afccnded ;  and  thofe,  their  refpective  fatellites,  filling,  in  a  moment,  the  im- 
menfity  of  fpace  with  light  and  motion,  a  grander  idea  cannot  be  conceived 
by  the  mind  of  man. 

Chafe  the  Jhooting  Jlars.  1.  115.  The  meteors  called  fhooting  ftars,  the 
lightning,  the  rainbow,  and  the  clouds,  are  phenomena  of  the  lower  regions 
of  the  atmofphere.  The  twilight,  the  meteors  called  fire-balls,  or  flying 
dragons,  and  the  northern  lights,  inhabit  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmof- 
phere. See  additional  notes,  No.  I. 

Cling  round  the  aerial  boiv.  1.  1 1 7.     See  additional  notes,  No.  II. 

Eve's  filken  couch.  1.  119.     See  additional  notes,  No.  III. 


CANTO  I.       ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  7 

Where  lighter  gafes,  circumfus'd  on  high, 

Form  the  vaft  concave  of  exterior  fky ; 

With  airy  lens  the  fcatter'd  rays  aflault,  125 

And  bend  the  twilight  round  the  dulky  vault ; 

Ride,  with  broad  eye  and  fcintillating  hair, 

The  rapid  Fire-ball  through  the  midnight  air; 

Where  lighter  gafes.  1.  133.  Mr.  Cavendifli  has  fliewn,  that  the  gas  cal- 
led inflammable  air,  is  at  leaft  ten  times  lighter  than  common  air:  Mr.  La- 
voifier  contends,  that  it  is  one  of  the  component  parts  of  water,  and  is  by 
him  called  hydrogene.  It  is  fuppofed  to  afford  their  principal  nourifhment 
to  vegetables,  and  thence  to  animals,  and  is  perpetually  rifing  from  their  de- 
compofition;  this  fource  of  it  in  hot  climates,  and  in  fummer  months,  is  fa 
great  as  to  exceed  eftimation.  Now,  if  this  light  gas  paffes  through  the  at- 
mofphere,  without  combining  with  it,  it  muft  compofe  another  atmofphere 
over  the  aerial  one,  which  muft  expand,  when  the  preffure  above  it  is  thus 
taken  away,  to  inconceivable  tenuity. 

If  this  fupernatural  gaffeous  atmofphere  floats  upon  the  aerial  one,  like 
ether  upon  water,  what  muft  happen?  I.  It  will  flow  from  the  line,  where 
it  will  be  produced  in  the  greateft  quantities,  and  become  much  accumulated 
over  the  poles  of  the  earth.  2,  The  common  air,  or  lower  ftratum  of  the 
atmofphere,  will  be  much  thinner  over  the  poles  than  at  the  line ;  becaufe,  if 
a  glafs  globe  be  filled  with  oil  and  water,  and  whirled  upon  its  axis,  the  cen- 
trifugal power  will  carry  the  heavier  fluid  to  the  circumference,  and  the 
lighter  will,  in  confequence,  be  found  round  the  axis.  3.  There  may  be  a 
place  at  fome  certain  latitude  between  the  poles  and  the  line  on  each  fide  the 
equator,  where  the  inflammable  fupernatant  atmofphere  may  end,  owing  to 
the  greater  centrifugal  force  of  the  heavier  aerial  atmofphere.  4.  Between 
the  termination  of  the  aerial  and  the  beginning  cf  the  gafleous  atmofphere, 
the  airs  will  occafionally  be  intermixed,  and  thus  become  inflammable  by  the 
electric  fpark.  Thefe  circumftances  will  afllft  in  explaining  the  phenomena 
of  fire-balls,  northern  lights,  and  of  fome  variable  winds,  and  long  con- 
tinued rains. 

Since  the  above  note  wasfirft  written,  Mr.  Volta,  I  am  informed,  has  ap- 
plied the  fuppofition  of  a  fupernatant  atmofphere  of  inflammable  air,  to  ex- 
plain fome  phenomena  in  meteorology.  And  Mr.  Lavoifief  has  announced 
his  defign  to  write  on  this  fubject.  Traite  de  Chimie,  Tom.  I.  I  am  happy 
to  find  thefe  opinions  fupported  by  fuch  refpectable  authority. 

And  bend  the  tivilight.  1.  126.  The  crepufcular  atmofphere,  or  the  region 
where  the  light  of  the  fun  ceafes  to  be  refracted  to  us,  is  eftimated  by  phi- 
lofophers  to  be  between  40  and  50  miles  high,  at  which  time  the  fun  is 
about  1 8  degrees  below  the  horizon;  and  the  rarity  of  the  air  is  fuppofed 
to  be  from  4000  to  10,000  times  greater  than  at  the  furface  of  the  earth. 
Cotes's  Hydroft.  p.  133.  The  duration  of  twilight  differs  in  different  fea- 
fons  and  in  different  latitudes.  In  England  the  fhorteft  twilight  is  about  the 
beginning  of  October  and  of  March;  in  more  northern  latitudes,  where 
the  fun  never  finks  more  than  18  degrees  below  the  horizon,  the  twilight 
continues  the  whole  night.  The  time  of  its  duration  may  allb  be  occafion- 
ally affected  by  the  varying  height  of  the  atmofphere.  A  number  of  ob- 
lervations  on  the  duration  of  twilight  in  different  latitudes  might  afford  confi- 
derable  information  concerning  the  aerial  ftrata  in  the  higher  regions  of  the 
atmofphere,  and  might  afllft  in  determining  whether  an  exterior  atmofphere 
of  inflammable  gas,  or  Hydrogene,  exifts  over  the  aerial  one. 


8  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

Dart  from  the  North  on  pale  ele&ric  ftreams, 

Fringing  Night's  fable  robe  with  traniient  beams.  130 

— Or  rein  the  Planets  in  their  fwift  careers, 

Gilding  with  borrow'd  light  their  twinkling  fpheres ; 

Alarm  with  comet-blaze  the  fapphire  plain, 

The  wan  ftars  glimmering  through  its  lilver  train; 

Gem  the  bright  Zodiac,  ftud  the  glowing  pole,  135 

Or  give  the  Sun's  phlogiftic  orb  to  roll. 

III.   Nymphs  !  your  fine  forms  with  fteps  impaffive  mock 
Earth's  vaulted  roofs  of  adamantine  rock ; 
Round  her  ftill  centre  tread  the  burning  foil, 
And  watch  the  billowy  Lavas  as  they  boil}  140 

Where,  in  bafaltic  caves  imprifon'd  deep, 
Reluctant  fires  in  dread  fufpenfion  fleep ; 
Or  fphere  on  fphere  in  winding  waves  expand, 
And  glad  with  genial  warmth  the  incumbent  land. 
So  when  the  Mother-bird  feledfo  their  food  145 

With  curious  bill,  and  feeds  her  callow  brood; 
Warmth  from  her  tender  heart  eternal  fprings, 
And,  pleas'd,  {he  clafps  them  with  extended  wings. 

"  You  from  deep  cauldrons  and  unmeafur'd  caves 
Blow  flaming  airs,  or  pour  vitrefcent  waves;  150 

O'er  fhining  oceans  ray  volcanic  light, 
Or  hurl  innocuous  embers  to  the  night. — 

Alarm  ivlth  comet-blaze.  1.  133.     See  additional  notes,  No.  IV. 

The  Suns  pblogijlic  orb.  \.  136.     See  additional  notes,  No.  V. 

Round  her  jllll  ce?itre.  1.  139.  Many  philofophers  have  believed  that  the 
central  parts  of  the  earth  conlift  of  a  fluid  mafs  of  burning  lava,  which  they 
have  called  a  fubterraneous  fun ;  and  have  fuppofed  that  it  contributes  to  the 
production  of  metals,  and  to  the  growth  of  vegetables.  See  additional 
notes,  No.  VI, 

Or  fphere  on  fphere.  \.  143.     See  additional  notes,  No.  VII. 

Hurl  innocuous  embers.  1.  152.  The  immediate  caufe  of  volcanic  eruptions 
is  believed  to  be  owing  to  the  water  of  the  fea,  or  from  lakes  or  inunda- 
tions, finding  itfelf  a  paflage  into  the  fubterraneous  fires,  which  may  lie  at 
great  depths.  This  muft  firfl  produce,  by  its  coldnefs,  a  condenfation  of  the 
vapour  there  exifting ,  or  a  vacuum,  and  thus  occafion  parts  of  the  earth's 
cruft  or  fhell  to  be  forced  down  by  the  preflure  of  the  incumbent  atmof- 
phere.  Afterwards  the  water  being  fuddenly  raifed  into  fleam,  produces  all 
the  explofive  effeds  of  earthquakes.  And  by  new  accefiions  of  water,  dui> 


CANTO!.       ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  9 

While  with  loud  (liouts  to  Etna  Hecla  calls, 
And  Andes  anfwers  from  his  beacon'd  walls  ; 
Sea-wilder'd  crews  the  mountain-ftars  admire,  155 

And  beauty  Beams  amid  tremendous  fire. 

"  Thus,  when  of  old,  as  myflic  bards  prefume, 
Huge  CYCLOPS  dwelt  in  Etna's  rocky  womb, 
On  thundering  anvils  rung  their  loud  alarms, 
And  leagu'd  with  VUCLAN  forged  immortal  arms;  160 

Defcending  VENUS  fought  the  dark  abode, 
And  footh'd  the  labours  of  the  grifly  God. 
While  frowning  Loves  the  threatening  falchion  wield, 
And  tittering  Graces  peep  behind  the  fhield, 
With  jointed  mail  their  fairy  limbs  o'erwhelm,  165 

Or  nod  with  paufing  ftep  the  plumed  helm; 
With  radiant  eye  fhe  view'd  the  boiling  ore, 
Heard  undifmay'd  the  breathing  bellows  roar, 
Admired  their  finewy  arms,  and  fhoulders  bare, 
And  ponderous  hammers  lifted  high  in  air,  170 

With  fmiles  celeftial  blefs'd  their  dazzled  fight, 
And  Beauty  blazed  amid  infernal  night. 

IV.  Effulgent  Maids  !  you  round  deciduous  day, 
Treflfed  with  foft  beams,  your  glittering  bands  array; 
On  Earth's  cold  bofom,  as  the  Sun  retires,  175 

Confine  with  folds  of  air  the  lingering  fires ; 

ing  the  intervals  of  the  explofions,  the  repetition  of  the  fhocks  is  caufed. 
Thefe  circumftances  were  hourly  illuftrated  by  the  fountains  of  boiling  wa- 
ter in  Iceland,  in  which  the  furface  of  the  water  in  the  boiling  wells  funk 
down  low  before  every  new  ebullition. 

Befides  thefe  eruptions  occafioned  by  the  fleam  of  water,  there  feems  to 
be  a  perpetual  effufion  of  other  vapours,  more  noxious,  and  (as  far  as  it  is 
yet  known)  perhaps  greatly  more  expanfile  than  water  from  the  Volcanos  in 
various  parts  of  the  world.  As  thefe  Volcanos  are  fuppofed  to  be  fpiracula, 
or  breathing  holes  to  the  great  fubterraneous  fires,  it  is  probable  that  the  ef- 
cape  of  elaftic  vapours  from  them  is  the  caufe  that  the  earthquakes  of  mo- 
dern days  are  of  fuch  fniall  extent  compared  to  thofe  of  ancient  times,  of 
which  veftiges  remain  in  every  part  of  the  World,  and,  on  this  account,  may 
be  faid  not  only  to  be  innocuous,  but  ufeful. 

Confine  with  folds  of  air.  1.  176.  The  air,  like  all  other  bad  conductors 
of  electricity,  is  known  to  be  a  bad  conductor  of  heat;  and  thence  prevents 
the  heat  acquired  from  the  fun's  rays  by  the  earth's  furface  from  being  fo 
foon  diflipated,  in  the  fame  manner  as  a  blanket,  which  may  be  confidered 

PART  I.  C 


io  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

O'er  Eve's  pale  forms  diffufe  phofphoric  light, 

And  deck  with  lambent  flames  the  fhrine  of  Night. 

So,  warm'd  and  kindled  by  meridian  fkies, 

And  viewM  in  darknefs  with  dilated  eyes,  180 

BOLOGNA'S  chalks  with  faint  ignition  blaze, 

BECCARI'S  (hells  emit  prifmatic  rays. 

as  a  fponge  filled  with  air,  prevents  the  efcape  of  heat  from  the  perfon  wrap- 
ped in  it.  This  feents  to  be  one  caufe  of  the  great  degree  of  cold  on  the 
tops  of  mountains,  where  the  rarity  of  the  air  is  greater,  and  it  therefore 
becomes  a  better  conductor  both  of  heat  and  electricity.  See  note  on  Baro- 
metz,  Vol.  II.  of  this  work. 

There  is,  however,  another  caufe  to  which  the  great  coldnefs  of  moun- 
tains, and  of  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmofphere,  is  more  immediately  to 
be  afcribed,  explained  by  Dr.  Darwin  in  the  Philof.  Tranf.  Vol.  LXXVJII. 
who  has  there  proved,  by  experiments  with  the  air-gun  and  air-pump,  that 
when  any  portion  of  the  atmofphere  becomes  mechanically  expanded,  it  ab- 
forbs  heat  from  the  bodies  in  its  vicinity.  And  as  the  air  which  creeps  along 
the  plains  expands  itfelf,  by  a  part  of  the  preffure  being  taken  off,  when  it 
afcends  the  fides  of  mountains,  it,  at  the  fame  time,  attracts  heat  from  the 
fummits  of  thofe  mountains,  or  other  bodies  which  happen  to  be  immerfed 
in  it,  and  thus  produces  cold.  Hence  he  concludes,  that  the  hot  air  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Andes  becomes  temperate  by  its  own  rarefaction  when  it  af- 
cends to  the  city  of  Quito ;  and  by  its  further  rarefaction  becomes  cooled 
to  the  freezing  point  when  it  afcends  to  the  fnowy  regions  on  the  fummits 
of  thofe  mountains.  To  this  alto  he  attributes  the  great  degree  of  cold  ex- 
perienced by  the  aeronauts  in  their  balloons;  and  which  produces  hail  in 
fummcr  at  the  height  of  only  two  or  three  miles  in  the  atmofphere. 

Diffufe  phofphoric  light.  1.  177.  I  have  often  been  induced  to  believe,  from 
obfervation,  that  the  twilight  of  the  evenings  is  lighter  than  that  of  the 
mornings  at  the  fame  diftance  from  noon.  Some  may  aicribe  this  to  the 
greater  height  of  the  atmofphere  in  the  evenings,  having  been  rarefied  by 
the  fun  during  the  day;  but  as  its  denfity  muft  at  the  fame  time  be  dimi- 
nifhed,  its  power  of  refraction  would  continue  the  fame.  I  fhould  rather 
fuppofe  that  it  may  be  owing  to  the  phofphorefcerit  quality  (as  it  is  called) 
cf  almoft  all  bodies;  that  is,  when  they  have  been  expofed  to  the  fun,  they 
continue  to  emit  light  for  a  con fider able  time  afterwards.  This  is  generally 
believed  to  arife  either  from  fuch  bodies  giving  out  the  light  which  they  had 
previoufly  abforbed,  or  to  the  continuance  of  a  flow  combuftion  which  the 
light  they  had  been  previoufly  expofed  to  had  excited.  See  the  next  note. 

Beccari's  JbMs>  1.  1 8  2.  Beccari  made  many  curious  experiments  on  the 
phofphoric  light,  as  it  is  called,  which  becomes  vifible  on  bodies  brought  into 
a  dark  room,  after  having  been  previoufly  expofed  to  the  funfhine.  It  ap- 
pears, from  thefe  experiments,  that  almoft  all  inflammable  bodies  poflefs  this 
quality  in  a  greater  or  lefe  degree;  white  paper  or  linen,  thus  examined, 
after  having  been  expofed  to  the  funfhine,  is  luminous  to  an  extraordinary 
degree.  And  if'a  perfon,  fhut  up  in  a  dark  room,  puts  one  of  his  hands  out 
into  the  fun's  light  for  a  fliort  time,  and  then  retracts  it,  he  will  be  able  to 
fee  that  hand  dirtinctly,  and  not  the  other.  Thefe  experiments  feem  to 
countenance  the  idea  of  light  being  abforbed,  and  again  emitted  from  bodies 
when  they  are  removed  into  da:knefs.  But  Beccari  further  pretended,  that 


CANTO!.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  n 

So  to  the  facred  Sun  in  MEMNON'S  fane, 

Spontaneous  concords  quired  the  matin  ftrain ; 

— Touch'd  by  his  orient  beam,  refponfive  rings  185 

The  living  lyre,  and  vibrates  all  its  firings ; 

Accordant  ailes  the  tender  tones  prolong, 

And  holy  echoes  fwell  the  adoring  fong. 

"  You  with  light  Gas  the.lamps  nocturnal  feed, 
Which  dance  and  glimmer  o'er  the  marfhy  mead;  190 

Shine  round  Calendula  at  twilight  hours, 
And  tip  with  filver  all  her  faffron  flowers ; 
Warm  on  her  mofly  couch  the  radiant  Worm, 
Guard  from  cold  dews  her  love-illumin'd  form, 

fome  calcareous  competitions,  when  expofed  to  red,  yellow,  or  bhie  lights, 
through  coloured  glaffes,  would,  on  their  being  brought  into  a  dark  room, 
emit  coloured  lights.  This  miftaken  fa<5l  of  Beccari's,  Mr.  Wilfon  decidedly 
refutes;  and,  among  many  other  curious  experiments,  difcovered,  that  if  oy- 
fter-fhells  were  thrown  into  a  common  fire,  and  calcined  for  about  half  an 
hour,  and  then  brought  to  a  perfon  who  had  previoufly  been  fome  minutes 
in  a  dark  room,  that  many  of  them  would  exhibit  beautiful  irifes  of  prifma- 
tic  colours,  from  whence,  probably,  arofe  Beccari's  miftake.  Mr.  Wilfon 
from  hence  contends,  that  thefe  kinds  of  phofphori  do  not  emit  the  light 
they  had  previoufly  received,  but  that  they  are  fet  on  fire  by  the  fun's  rays, 
and  continue  for  fome  time  a  flow  combuftion  after  they  are  withdrawn 
from  the  light.  Wilfon's  Experiments  on  Phofphori.  Dodfley,  1775. 

The  Bolognian  ftone  is  a  felenite,  or  gypfum,  and  has  been  long  celebrated 
for  its  phofphorefcent  quality  after  having  been  burnt  in  a  fulphurous  fire; 
and  expofed,  when  cold,  to  the  fun's  light.  It  may  be  thus  well  imitated : 
Calcine  oyfter-fhells  half  an  hour,  pulverize  them  when  cold,  and  add  one 
third  part  of  flowers  of  fulphur,  prefs  them  clofe  into  a  fmall  crucible,  and 
calcine  them  for  an  hour  or  longer,  and  keep  the  powder  in  a  phial  clofe 
{topped.  A  part  of  this  powder  is  to  be  expofed  for  a  minute  or  two  to  the 
funbeams,  and  then  brought  into  a  dark  room.  The  calcined  Bolognian 
ftone  becomes  a  calcareous  hepar  of  fulphur;  but  the  calcined  fhells,  as  they 
contain  the  animal  acid,  may  alfo  contain  fome  of  the  phofphorus  of  Kunkel. 

In  Memnons  fane.  1,  183.     See  additional  notes,  No.  VIII. 

The  lamps  nofiurnal.  1.  189.  The  ignis  fatuus,  or  Jack  a  lantern,  fo  fre- 
quently alluded  to  by  poets,  is  fuppofed  to  originate  from  the  inflammable 
air,  orHydrogene,  given  up  from  moraffes ;  which  being  of  a  heavier  kind, 
from  its  impurity,  than  that  obtained  from  iron  and  water,  hovers  near  the 
furface  of  the  earth,  and,  uniting  with  common  air,  gives  out  light  by  its 
flow  ignition.  Perhaps  fuch  lights  have  no  exiftence ;  and  the  reflection  oi 
a  ftar  on  watery  ground  may  have  deceived  the  travellers,  who  have  been 
faid  to  be  bewildered  by  them:  if  the  fa&  was  eftablifheH,  it  would  much 
contribute  to  explain  the  phenomena  of  northern  lights.  I  have  travelled 
much  in  the  night,  in  all  feafons  of  the  year,  and  over  all  kinds  of  foil,  but 
never  faw  one  of  thefe  Will  o'wifps. 

Shine  round  Calendula,  1.  19 1.      See  note  on  Tropasolum  in  Vol.  II. 

toe  radiant  Worm.  1.  193.     See  additional  notes,  No.  IX. 


i*  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

From  leaf  to  leaf  conduct  the  virgin  light,  195 

Star  of  the  earth,  and  diamond  of  the  night, 

You  bid  in  air  the  tropic  Beetle  burn, 

And  fill  with  golden  flame  his  winged  urn : 

Or  gild  the  furge  with  infeft-fparks,  that  fwarm 

Round  the  bright  oar,  the  kindling  prow  alarm;  200 

Or  arm  in  waves,  electric  in  his  ire, 

The  dread  Gymnotus  with  ethereal  fire. — 


The  dread  Gymnotus.  1.  aoi.  The  Gymnotus  electricus  is  a  native  of  the 
river  of  Surinam,  in  South- America;  thofe  which  were  brought  over  to  En- 
gland about  eight  years  ago  were  about  three  or  four  feet  long,  and  gave  an 
electric  fhock  (as  I  experienced)  by  putting  one  finger  on  the  back,  near  its 
head,  and  another  of  the  oppofite  hand  into  the  water  near  its  tail.  In  their 
native  country  they  are  faid  to  exceed  twenty  feet  in  length,  and  kill  any 
man  who  approaches  them  in  an  hoftile  manner.  It  is  not  only  to  efcapc 
its  enemies  that  this  furprizing  power  of  the  fifh  is  ufed,  but  alfo  to  take  its 
prey;  which  it  does  by  benumbing  them,  and  then  devouring  them  before 
they  have  time  to  recover,  or  by  perfectly  killing  them ;  for  the  quantity  of 
the  power  feemed  to  be  determined  by  the  will  or  anger  of  the  animal;  as 
it  fometimes  {truck  a  fifh  twice  before  it  was  fufficiently  benumbed  to  be 
cafily  fwallowed. 

The  organs  productive  of  this  wonderful  accumulation  of  electric  matter 
^have  been  accurately  diffected  and  defcribed  by  Mr.  J.  Hunter.  Philfcfi 
Tranf.  Vol.  LXV.  And  are  fo  divided  by  membranes  as  to  compofe  a  very 
cxtenfive  furface,  and  are  fupplied  with  many  pairs  of  nerves  larger  than 
any  other  nerves  of  the  body :  but  how  fo  large  a  quantity  is  fo  quickly  ac- 
cumulated as  to  produce  fuch  amazing  effects  in  a  fluid  ill  adapted  for  the 
purpofe,  is  not  yet  fatisfactorily  explained.  The  Torpedo  poffefVes  ajimilar 
power  in  a  lefs  degree,  as  was  fhewn  by  Mr.  Walch,  and  another  fiih  lately 
defcribed  by  Mr.  Paterfon.  Philof.  Tranf.  Vol.  LXXVI. 

In  the  conftruction  of  the  Leyden-Phial,  (as  it  is  called)  which  is  coated 
on  both  fides,  it  is  known,  that  above  one  hundred  times  the  quantity  of 
pofitive  electricity  can  be  condenfed  on  every  fquare  inch  of  the  coating  on 
one  fide,  than  could  have  been  accumulated  on  the  fame  furface  if  there  had 
been  no  oppofite  coating  communicating  with  the  earth;  becaufe  the  nega- 
tive electricity,  or  that  part  of  it  which  caufed  its  expanfion,  is  now  drawn 
off  through  the  glafs.  It  is  alfo  well  known,  that  the  thinner  the  glafs  is 
(which  is  thus  coated  on  both  fides  fo  as  to  make  a  Leyden-Phial,  or  plate) 
the  more  electricity  can  be  condenfed  on  one  of  its  furfaces,  till  it  become* 
fo  thin  as  to  break,  and  thence  difcharge  itfelf. 

Now,  it  is  pofllble  that  the  quantity  of  electricity  condenfible  on  one  fide 
of  a  coated  phial  may  increafe  in  fome  high  ratio  in  refpect  to  the  thinnefs 
of  the  glafs,  fince  the  power  of  attraction  is  known  to  decreafe  as  the  fquare* 
of  the  diflances,  to  which  this  circumflance  of  electricity  feems  to  bear 
ibme  analogy.  Hence,  if  an  animal  membrane,  as  thin  as  the  filk-worm 
fpins  its  filk,  could  be  fo  fituated  as  to  be  charged  like  the  Leyden  bottle, 
without  b'urfting,  (as  fuch  thin  glafs  would  be  liable  to  do,)  it  would  be  dif- 
ficult to  calculate  the  immenfe  quantity  of  electric  fluid  which  might  be  ac- 
cumulated on  its  furface.  No  land  animals  are  yet  difcovered  which  poflefs 
this  power,  though  the  air  would  have  been  a  much  better  medium  for  pro- 


CANTO  I.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  13 

Onward  his  courfe  with  waving  tail  he  helms, 

And  mimic  lightnings  fcare  the  watery  realms; 

So,  when  with  bridling  plumes  the  bird  of  JOVE  205 

Vindictive  leaves  the  argent  fields  above, 

Borne  on  broad  wings  the  guilty  world  he  awes, 

And  grafps  the  lightning  in  his  filming  claws. 

V.   i.  "  Nymphs  !  your  (oft  fmiles  imcultur'd  man  fubdued, 
And  charm'd  the  Savage  from  his  native  wood;  210 

You,  while  amazed  his  hurrying  Hords  retire 
From  the  fell  havoc  of  devouring  Fire, 
Taught  the  rirft  Art !  with  piny  rods  to  raife, 
By  quick  attrition  the  domeftic  blaze, 

Fan  with  foft  breath,  with  kindling  leaves  provide,  215 

And  lift  the  dread  deftroyer  on  his  fide. 


during  its  effects ;  perhaps  the  fize  of  the  neceffary  apparatus  would  have 
been  inconvenient  to  land  animals. 

In  his  Jbining  claivs.  1.  208.  Alluding  to  an  antique  gem  in  the  collection 
of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Florence.  Spence. 

Of  devouring  Fire.  1.  212.  The  firft  and  mo  ft  important  difcovery  of 
mankind  feems  to  have  been  that  of  fire.  For  many  ages,  it  is  probable,  fire 
was  efteemed  a  dangerous  enemy,  known  only  by  its  dreadful  devaftations ; 
aad  that  many  lives  muft  have  been  loft,  and  many  dangerous  burns  and 
wounds  muft  have  afflicted  thofe  who  firft  dared  to  fubject  it  to  the  ufes  of 
life.  It  is  faid  that  the  tall  monkies  of  Borneo  and  Sumatra  lie  down  with 
pleafure  round  any  accidental  fire  in  their  woods;  and  are  arrived  to  that 
degree  of  reafon,  that  knowledge  of  caufation,  that  they  thruft  into  the  re- 
maining fire  the  half-burnt  ends  of  the  branches  to  prevent  its  going  out. — 
One  of  the  nobles  of  the  cultivated  people  of  Otaheite,  when  Captain  Cook 
treated  them  with  tea,  catched  the  boiling  water  in  his  hand  from  the  cock 
of  the  tea-urn,  and  bellowed  with  pain,  not  conceiving  that  water  could 
become  hot,  like  red  fire. 

Tools  of  fteel  conftitute  another  important  difcovery  in  confequence  of 
fire;  and  contributed,  perhaps,  principally  to  give  the  European  nations  fo 
great  fuperiority  over  the  American  world.  By  thefe  two  agents,  fire  and 
tools  of  fteel,  mankind  became  able  to  cope  with  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
and  conquer  provinces  of  forefts,  which,  in  uncultivated  countries,  almoft  ex- 
clude the  growth  of  other  vegetables,  and  of  thofe  animals  which  are  necef- 
fary  to  our  exiftence.  Add  to  this,  that  the  quantity  of  our  food  is  alfo  in- 
creafed  by  the  ufe  of  fire,  for  fome  vegetables  become  falutary  food  by  means 
of  the  heat  ufed  in  cookery,  which  are  naturally  either  noxious  or  difficult  of 
digeftion ;  as  potatoes,  kidney-beans,  onions,  cabbages.  The  cafTava,  when 
made  into  bread,  is,  perhaps,  rendered  mild  by  the  heat  it  undergoes,  more 
than  by  exprefiing  its  fupcrfluous  juice.  The  roots  of  white  bryony  and  of 
arum,  I  am  informed,  lofe  much  of  their  acrimony  by  boiling. 


i4  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

So,  with  bright  wreath  of  ferpent-treflfes  crown'd, 

Severe  in  beauty,  young  MEDUSA  frown'd : 

Erewhile  fubdued,  round  IVifdonis  JULgis  rolPd, 

HifsM  the  dread  fnakes,  and  flamed  in  burniuYd  gold;       220 

FlauVd  on  her  brandifh'd  arm  the  immortal  fhield, 

And  terror  lightened  o'er  the  dazzled  field. 

2.   Nymphs  !  you  disjoin,  unite,  condenfe,  expand, 
And  give  new  wonders  to  the  Chemift's  hand ; 
On  tepid  clouds  of  rifing  fleam  afpire,  225 

Or  fix  in  fulphur  all  its  folid  fire ; 
With  boundlefs  fpring  elaftic  airs  unfold, 
Or  fill  the  fine  vacuities  of  gold ; 


Young  Medufa  fro-wnd.  1.  2 1 8.  The  Egyptian  Medufa  is  reprefented  OH 
ancient  gems,  with  wings  on  her  head,  fnaky  hair,  and  a  beautiful  counte- 
nance, which  appears  intenfely  thinking ;  and  was  fuppofed  to  reprefent  di- 
vine wifdom.  The  Grecian  Medufa,  on  Minerva's  fhield,  as  appears  on 
other  gems,  has  a  countenance  diftorted  with  rage  or  pain,  and  is  fuppofed  to 
reprefent  divine  vengeance.  This  Medufa  was  one  of  the  Gorgons,  at  firft. 
very  beautiful,  and  terrible  to  her  enemies.  Minerva  turned  her  hair  into 
fnakes ;  and  Perfeus  having  cut  off  her  head,  fixed  it  on  the  fhield  of  tkat 
goddefs;  the  fight  of  which  then  petrified  the  beholders.  Dannet.  Did. 

Orjix  in  fulpbur.  1.  az6.  The  phenomena  of  chemical  explofions  cannot 
be  accounted  for  without  the  fuppofition,  that  fome  of  the  bodies  employed 
contain  concentrated  or  folid  heat  combined  with  them,  to  which  the  French 
chemifts  have  given  the  name  of  Calorique.  When  air  is  expanded  in  the  air- 
pump,  or  water  evaporated  into  fteam,  they  drink  up  or  abforb  a  great  quan- 
tity of  heat;  from  this  analogy,  when  gun-powder  is  exploded,  it  ought  to 
abforb  much  heat;  that  is,  in  popular  language,  it  ought  to  produce  a  great 
quantity  of  cold.  When  vital  air  is  united  with  phlogiftic  matter  in  refpira- 
tion,  which  feems  to  be  a  flow  combuftion,  its  volume  is  leffened;  the  car- 
bonic acid,  and  perhaps  phofphoric  acid,  are  produced;  and  heat  is  given 
out;  which,  according  to  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Crawford,  would  feem  to 
be  depofited  from  the  vital  air.  But  as  the  vital  air  in  nitrous  acid  is  con- 
denfed  from  a  light  elaftic  gas  to  that  of  a  heavy  fluid,  it  muft  poffefs  lefs 
heat  thai^iefore.  And  hence  a  great  part  of  the  heat  which  is  given  out  in 
firing  gifllpowder,  I  fhould  fuppofe,  muft  refide  in  the  fulphur  or  charcoal. 

Mr.  Lavoifier  has  fhewn,  that  vital  air,  or  Oxygene,  lofes  lefs  of  its  heat 
when  it  becomes  one  of  the  component  parts  of  nitrous  acid,  than  in  any 
other  of  its  combinations;  and  is  hence  capable  of  giving  out  a  great  quan- 
tity of  heat  in  the  explofion  of  gun-powder;  but  as  there  feems  to  be  great 
analogy  between  the  matter  of  heat,  or  Calorique,  and  the  electric  matter ; 
and  as  the  worft  conductors  of  electricity  are  believed  to  contain  the  greateft 
quantity  of  that  fluid;  there  is  reafon  to  fufpect,  that  'the  worft  conductors  of 
heat  may  contain  the  moft  of  that  fluid;  as  fulphur,  wax,  filk,  air,  glafs.  Sec 
note  on  1.  174  of  this  Canto. 


CANTO!.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  15 

With  fudden  flafh  vitrefcent  fparks  reveal, 

By  fierce  collifion  from  the  flint  and  fleel;  230 

Or  mark  with  mining  letters  KUNKEL'S  name 

In  the  pale  Phofphor's  felf-confuming  flame. 

So  the  chafte  heart  of  fome  enchanted  Maid 

Shines  with  infidious  light,  by  Love  betrayed ; 

Round  her  pale  bofom  plays  the  young  Deflre,  235 

And  flow  (he  waftes  by  felf-confuming  fire. 

3.  "  You  taught  myfterious  BACON  to  explore 
Metallic  veins,  and  part  the  drofs  from  ore ; 
With  fylvan  coal  in  whirling  mills  combine 
The  cryftal'd  nitre,  and  the  fulphurous  mine;  240 

Through  wiry  nets  the  black  diffufion  ftrain, 
And  clofe  an  airy  ocean  in  a  grain. — 

Vitrefcent  fparks.  1.  229.  When  flints  are  ftruck  againft  other  flints  they 
have  the  property  of  giving  fparks  of  light ;  but  it  feems  to  be  an  internal 
light,  perhaps  of  electric  origin,  very  different  from  the  ignited  fparks  which 
are  ftruck  from  flint  and  fteel.  The  fparks  produced  by  the  collifion  of  fteel 
with  flint,  appear  to  be  globular  particles  of  iron,  which  have  been  fufed,  and 
imperfectly  fcorified  or  vitrified.  They  are  kindled  by  the  heat  produced 
by  the  collifion;  but  their  vivid  light,  and  their  fufion  and  vitrification  are 
the  effects  of  a  combuftion  continued  in  thefe  particles  during  their  paflage 
through  the  air.  This  opinion  is  confirmed  by  an  experiment  of  Mr.  Hawkf- 
bee,  who  found  that  thefe  fparks  could  not  be  produced  in  the  exhaufted  re- 
ceiver. See  Keir's  Chemical  Diet.  art.  Iron,  and  art.  Earth  verifiable. 

'The  pale  Phofpbor.  1.  23 2.     See  additional  notes,  No.  X. 

And  clofe  an  airy  ocean.  1.  242.  Gun-powder  is  plainly  defcribed  in  the 
works  of  Roger  Bacon,  before  the  year  1267.  He  defcribes  it  in  a  curious 
manner,  mentioning  the  fulphur  and  nitre,  but  conceals  the  charcoal  in  an 
anagram.  The  words  are,  fed  tamen  falis  petrae  lure  mope  can  ubre,  et  ful- 
phuris;  et  fie  facics  tonitrum,  et  corrufcationem,  li  fcias,  artificium.  The 
words  lure  mope  can  ubre  are  an  anagram  of  carbonum  pulvere.  Biograph. 
Britaa.  Vol.  1.  Bacon  de  Secretis  Operibus,  Cap.  XI.  He  adds,  that  he 
thinks,  by  an  artifice  of  this  kind,  Gideon  defeated  the  Midianites  with  only 
three  hundred  men.  Judges,  Chap.  VII.  Chamb.  Die!:,  art.  Gun-powder. 
As  Bacon  does  not  claim  this  as  his  own  invention,  it  is  thought.,  by  many, 
to  have  been  of  much  more  ancient  difcovery. 

The  permanently  elaftic  fluid,  generated  in  the  firing  of  gun-powder,  is 
calculated  by  Mr.  Robins  to  be  about  244  if  the  bulk  of  the  powder  be  I. 
And  that  the  heat  generated  at  the  time  of  the  explofion  occafions  the  rare- 
fied air,  thus  produced,  to  occupy  about  1000  times  the  fpace  of  the  gun-pow- 
der. This  preffure  may  therefore  be  called  equal  to  1000  atmofpheres,  or 
fix  tons  upon  a  fquare  inch.  As  the  fuddennefs  of  this  explofion  muft  con- 
tribute much  to  its  power,  it  would  feem  that  the  chamber  of  powder,  to 
produce  its  greateft  effect,  fhould  be  lighted  in  the  centre  of  it ;  which,  I  be- 
lieve, is  not  attended  to  in  the  manufacture  of  mufkets  or  piftols. 


16  BOTANIC  GARDEN".  PART!. 

Pent  in  dark  chambers  of  cylindric  brafs, 

Slumbers  in  grim  repofe  the  footy  mafs  ; 

Lit  by  the  brilliant  fpark,  from  grain  to  grain  245 

Runs  the  quick  fire  along  the  kindling  train ; 

On  the  pain'd  ear-drum  burfts  the  fudden  crafh, 

Starts  the  red  flame,  and  Death  purfues  the  flafh. — 

Fear's  feeble  hand  directs  the  fiery  darts, 

And  ftrength  and  courage  yield  to  chemic  arts; 

Guilt  with  pale  brow  the  mimic  thunder  owns, 

And  Tyrants  tremble  on  their  blood -ftain'd  thrones. 

VI.  Nymphs  !  you  erewhile  on  fimmering  cauldrons  play'd, 
And  calPd  delighted  Savery  to  your  aid  ; 

From  the  cheapnefs  with  which  a  very  powerful  gun-powder  is  likely  foon 
to  be  manufactured  from  aerated  marine  acid,  or  (from  a  new  method  of 
forming  nitrous  acid  by  means  of  manganefe  or  other  calciform  ores,  it  may 
probably,  in  time,  be  applied  to  move  machinery,  and  fuperfede  the  ufe  of 
fleam. 

There  is  a  bitter  invective  in  Don  Quixote  againft  the  inventors  of  gun- 
powder, as  it  levels  the  ftrong  with  the  weak,  the  knight  cafed  in  fleel  with 
the  naked  fhepherd,  thofe  who  have  been  trained  to  the  fword  with  thofe 
who  are  totally  unflcilful  in  the  ufe  of  it ;  and  throws  down  all  the  fplendid 
diftin&ions  of  mankind.  Thefe  very  reafons  ought  to  have  been  urged  to 
fhew  that  the  difcovery  of  gun-powder  as  been  of  public  utility,  by  weaken- 
ing the  tyranny  of  the  few  over  the  many. 

Delighted  Savery.  \.  254.  The  invention  of  the  fteam-engine  for  raifmg 
water  by  the  preflure  of  the  air,  in  confequence  of  the  condemnation  of  fteam, 
is  properly  afcribed  to  Capt.  Savery  ;  a  plate  and  description  of  this  machine 
is  given  in  Harris's  Lexicon  Technicum,  art.  Engine.  Though  the  Marquis 
of  Worcefter,  in  his  Centu/y  of  Inventions,  printed  in  the  year  1663,  had  de- 
fcribed  an  engine  for  raifmg  water  by  the  explofive  power  of  fteam  long 
before  Savery's.  Mr.  Defaguliers  affirms,  that  Savery  bought  up  all  he 
could  procure  of  the  books  of  the  Marquis  of  Worcefter,  and  deftroyed 
them,  profeffing  himfelf  then  to  have  difcovered  the  power  of  fteam  by  ac- 
cident, which  feems  to  have  been  an  unfounded  flander.  Savery  applied  it 
to  the  raifmg  of  water  to  fupply  houfes  and  gardens,  but  could  not  accom- 
plifh  the  draining  of  mines  by  it.  Which  was  afterwards  done  by  Mr. 
Newcomen  and  Mr.  John  Cowley,  at  Dartmouth,  in  the  year  1712,  who 
added  the|nfton. 

A  few  years  ago  Mr.  Watt,  of  Glafgow,  much  improved  this  machine, 
and  with  Mr.  Boulton,  of  Birmingham,  has  applied  it  to  variety  of  purpofes, 
fuch  as  railing  water  from  mines,  blowing  bellows  to  fufe  the  ore,  fupplying 
towns  with  water,  grinding  corn,  and  many  other  purpofes.  There  is  rea- 
fon  to  believe  it  may  in  time  be  applied  to  the  rowing  of  barges,  and  the 
moving  of  carriages  along  the  road.  As  the  fpecific  levity  of  air  is  too  great 
for  the  fupport  of  great  burthens  by  balloons,  there  feems  no  probable  me- 
thod of  flying  conveniently  but  by  the  power  of  fteam,  or  fome  other  explo- 
five material ;  which  another  half  century  may  probably  difcover.  See  ad- 
ditional notes,  No.  XI. 


CANTO!.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  17 

Bade  round  the  youth  explofive  Steam  afpire  255 

In  gathering  clouds,  and  wing'd  the  wave  with  fire; 

Bade  with  cold  flreams  the  quick  exparifion  flop, 

And  funk  the  immenfe  of  vapour  to  a  drop. — 

Prefs'd  by  the  ponderous  air  the  Piflon  falls 

Refifllefs,  fliding  through  its  iron  walls ;  260 

Quick  moves  the  balanced  beam  of  giant-birth, 

Wields  his  large  limbs,  and,  nodding,  fhakes  the  earth. 

"  The  Giant-Power  from  earth's  remoteft  caves 
Lifts  witli  flrong  arm  her  dark  relu&ant  waves ; 
Each  cavern'd  rock,  and  hidden  den  explores,  265 

Drags  her  dark  coals,  and  digs  her  (hining  ores. — 
Next,  in  clofe  cells  of  ribbed  oak  confin'd, 
Gale  after  gale,  He  crouds  the  flruggling  wind ; 
The  imprifon'd  florins  through  brazen  noflrils  roar, 
Fan  the  white  flame,  and  fufe  the  fparkling  ore.  270 

Here  high  in  air  the  rifing  flream  He  pours 
To  clay-built  cifterns,  or  to  lead-lined  towers; 
Frefh  through  a  thoufand  pipes  the  wave  diflils, 
And  thirfly  cities  drink  the  exuberant  rills. — 
There  the  vafl  mill-flone,  with  inebriate  whirl,  275 

On  trembling  floors  his  forceful  fingers  twirl. 
Whofe  flinty  teeth  the  golden  harvefls  grind, 
Feafl  without  blood !  and  nouriih  human-kind. 


•Feaft  ivlthout  blood!  1.  278.  The  benevolence  of  the  great  Author  of  all 
things  is  greatly  manifeft  in  the  fum  of  his  works,  as  Dr.  Balguy  has  well 
evinced  in  his  pamphlet  on  Divine  Benevolence  afierted,  printed  for  Davis, 
1781.  Yet,  if  we  may  compare  the  parts  of  nature  with  each  other,  there 
are  fome  circumftanccs  of  her  economy  which  feem  to  contribute  more  to 
the  general  fcale  of  happinefs  than  others.  Thus  the  ncurilhment  of  animal 
bodies  is  derived  from  three  fources:  r.  The  milk  given  from  the  mother  to 
the  offspring :  in  this  excellent  contrivance  the  mother  has  pleafure  in  af- 
fording the  fuftenance  to  the  child,  and  the  child  has  pleafure  in  receiving 
it.  a.  Another  fource  of  the  food  of  animals  includes  feeds,  or  eggs:  in 
thefe  the  embryon  is  in  a  torpid  or  infenfible  ftate,  and  there  is  along  with 
it,  laid  up  for  its  early  nourifhment,  a  flore  of  provifion,  as  the  fruit  be- 
longing to  fome  feeds,  and  the  oil  and  ftarch  belonging  to  others;  when 
thefe  are  confumed  by  animals,  the  unfeeling  feed,  or  egg,  receives  no  pain, 
but  the  animal  receives  pleafure  which  confumes  it.  Under  this  article 
may  be  included  the  bodies  of  animals  which  die  naturally.  3.  But  the 
laft  method  of  fupporting  animal  bodies  by  the  deftruction  of  other  living 
animals,  as  lions  preying  upon  lambs,  thefe  upon  living  vegetables,  and 

PART  I.  D 


i8  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

"  Now  his  hard  hands  on  Mona's  rifted  crefl, 
Bofom'd  in  rock,  her  azure  ores  arreftj  280 

With  iron  lips  his  rapid  rollers  seize 
The  lengthening  bars,  in  thin  expanfion  fqueeze ; 
Defcending  fcrews  with  ponderous  fly-wheels  wound 
The  tawny  plates,  the  new  medallions  round ; 
Hard  dyes  of  fteel  the  cupreous  circles  cramp,  285 

And  with  quick  fall  his  mafTy  hammers  ftamp. 
The  Harp,  the  Lily  and  the  Lion  join, 
And  GEORGE  and  BRITAIN  guard  the  fterling  coin. 

"  Soon  (hall  thy  arm,  UnconqueSd  Steam  f  afar 
Drag  the  flow  barge,  or  drive  the  rapid  car;  290 

Or  on  wide-waving  wings  expanded  bear 
The  flying-chariot  through  the  fields  of  air. 
— Fair  crews  triumphant,  leaning  from  above, 
Shall  wave  their  fluttering  kerchiefs  as  they  move ; 
Or  warrior-bands  alarm  the  gaping  croud,  295 

And  armies  shrink  beneath  the  {hadowy  cloud* 

"  So  mighty  HERCULES  o'er  many  a  clime 
Waved  his  vaft  mace  in  Virtue's  caufe  fublirne, 

mankind  upon  them  all,  would  appear  to  be  a  lefs  perfect  part  of  the 
economy  of  nature  than  thofe  before  mentioned,  as  contributing  lefs  to  the 
fum  of  general  happinefs. 

Manas  rifted creji.  1.279.  Alluding  to  the  very  valuable  copper-mines 
in  the  ifle  of  Anglefey,  the  property  of  the  Earl  of  Uxbridge. 

With  iron  lips.  1.  28 1.  Mr.  Boulton  has  lately  conftructed  at  Soho,  near 
Birmingham,  a  moft  magnificent  apparatus  for  Coining,  which  has  coll  him 
fome  thoufand  pounds ;  the  whole  machinery  is  moved  by  an  improved 
fteam-engine,  which  rolls  the  copper  for  half-pence  finer  than  copper  has 
before  been  rolled  foi*  the  purpofe  of  making  money ;— it  works  the  coupoirs, 
or  fcrew-preffes  for  cutting  out  the  circular  pieces  of  copper,  and  coins  both 
the  faces  and  edges  of  the  money,  at  the  fame  time,  with  fuch  fuperior  ex- 
cellence, and  cheapnefs  of  workmanfliip,  as  well  as  with  marks  of  fuch 
powerful  machinery,  as  muft  totally  prevent  clandeftine  imitation,  and,  in 
confequence,  fave  many  lives  from  the  hand  of  the  executioner;  a  circum- 
ftance  worthy  the  attention  of  a  great  minifter.  If  a  civic  crown  was  given 
in  Rome  for  preferving  the  life  of  one  citizen,  Mr.  Boulton  (hould  be  co- 
vered with  garlands  of  oak!  By  this  machinery  four  boys,  of  ten  or  twelve 
years  old,  are  capable  of  ftriking  thirty  thoufand  guineas  in  an  hour,  and 
the  machine  itfelf  keeps  an  unerring  account  of  the  pieces  ftruck. 

So  mighty  Hercules  1.  297.  The  ftory  of  Hercules  feems  of  great  anti- 
quity, as  appears  from  the  fimplicity  of  his  drefs  and  armour,  a  lion's  flciu 


CANTO  I.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  19 

Unmeafurecl  flrength  with  early  art  combined, 

Awed,  ferved,  prote&ed,  and  amazed  mankind. —  300 

Firft  two  dread  Snakes,  at  JUNO'S  vengeful  nod, 

Climb 'd  round  the  cradle  of  the  fleeping  God; 

Waked  by  the  {hrilling  hifs  and  milling  found, 

And  (bricks  of  fair  attendants  trembling  round, 

Their  gafping  throats  with  clenching  hands  he  holds ;       305 

And  Death  untwifts  their  convoluted  folds. 

Next  in  red  torrents  from  her  fevenfold  heads 

Fell  HYDRA'S  blood  on  Lerna's  lake  he  fheds; 

Grafps  ACHELOUS  with  refiftlefs  force, 

And  drags  the  roaring  River  to  his  courfe;  310 

Binds  with  loud  bellowing  and  with  hideous  yell, 

The  monfler  Bull,  and  threefold  Dog  of  Hell. 

"  Then  where  Nemea's  howling  forefts  wave, 
He  drives  the  Lion  to  his  dufky  cave; 

•and  a  club;  and  from  the  nature  of  many  of  his  exploits,  the  deftruclion  of 
wild  beafts  and  robbers.  This  part  of  the  hiftory  of  Hercules  feems  to 
have  related  to  times  before  the  invention  of  the  bow  and  arrow,  or  of " 
fpinning  flax.  Other  ftories  of  Hercules  are  perhaps  of  later  date,  and  ap- 
pear to  be  allegorical,  as  his  conquering  the  river-god  Achelous,  and  bring- 
ing Cerberus  up  to  day-light;  the  former  might  refer  to  his  turning  the 
courfe  of  a  river,  and  draining  a  morafs,  and  the  latter  to  his  expofing  a 
part  of  the  fuperftition  of  the  times.  The  ftr angling  the  lion,  and  tearing 
his  jaws  afunder,  are  defcribed  from  a.  ftatue  in  the  Mufeum  Florentinum, 
and  from  an  antique  gem;  and  the  grafping  Anteus  to  death  in  his  arms,  as 
he  lifts  him  from  the  earth,  is  defcribed  from  another  ancient  cameo.  The 
famous  pillars  of  Hercules  have  been  varioufly  explained.  Pliny  afferts  that 
the  natives  of  Spain  and  of  Africa  believed  that  the  mountains  of  Abyla 
and  Calpe,  on  each  fide  of  the  ftraits  of  Gibraltar,  were  the  pillars  of  Her- 
cules; and  that  they  were  reared  by  the  hands  of  that  god,  and  the  fea  ad- 
mitted between  them.  Plin.  Hift.  Nat.  p.  46.  Edit.  Manut.  Venet.  16.09. 

If  the  paflage  between  the  two  continents  was  opened  by  an  earthquake 
in  ancient  times,  as  this  allegorical  ftory  would  feem  to  countenance,  there 
muft  have  been  an  immenfe  current  of  water  at  firft  run  into  the  Mediter-. 
ranean  from  the  Atlantic;  iince  there  is  at  prefent  a  ftrong  ftream  fets  always 
from  thence  into  the  Mediterranean.  Whatever  may  be  the  caufe,  which  now 
conftantly  operates,  fo  as  to  make  the  furface  of  the  Mediterranean  lower 
than  that  of  the  Atlantic,  it  muft  have  kept  it  very  much  lower  before  a 
paifage  for  the  water  through  the  ftraits  was  opened.  It  is  probable,  before 
iuch  an  event  took  place,  the  coafts  and  iflands  of  the  Mediterranean  ex- 
tended much  further  into  that  fea,  and  were  then,  for  a  great  extent  of 
country,  deilroyed  by  the  floods  cccalioned  by  the  new  rife  of  water,  and 
have  fince  remained  beneath  the  fea.  Might  not  this  give  rife  to  the  flood 
«f  Deucalion?  See  note  Caffia,  Vol.  II.  of  this  work. 


so  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Seized  by  the  throat,  the  growling  fiend  di farms, 
And  tears  his  gaping  jaws  with  finewy  arms ; 
Lifts  proud  ANTAEUS  from  his  mother-plains, 
And  with  ftrong  grafp  the  ftruggling  Giant  drains ; 
Back  falls  his  fainting  head,  and  clammy  hair, 
Writhe  his  weak  limbs,  and  flits  his  life  in  air; — 
By  fteps  reverted,  o'er  the  blood-drop'd  fen 
He  tracks  huge  CACUS  to  his  murderous  den  ; 
Where  breathing  flames  through  brazen  lips  he  fled, 
And  {hakes  the  rock-roof  M  cavern  o'er  his  head. 

"  Laft  with  wide  arms  the  folid  earth  He  tears,  325 

Piles  rock  on  rock,  on  mountain  mountain  rears; 
Heaves  up  huge  Abyla  on  Afric's  fand, 
Crowns  with  high  Calpe  Europe's  falient  flrand; 
Crefts  with  oppofing  towers  the  fplendid  fcene, 
And  pours  from  urns  immenfe  the  fea  between. —  330 

— Loud  o'er  her  whirling  flood  Charybdis  roars, 
Affrighted  Scylla  bellows  round  his  {hores ; 
Vefuvio  groans  through  all  his  echoing  caves, 
And  Etna  thunders  o'er  the  infurgent  waves. 

VII.   i.  Nymphs !  your  fine  hands  ethereal  floods  amafs 
From  the  warm  cufhion,  and  the  whirling  glafs;  336 

Beard  the  bright  cylinder  with  golden  wire, 
And  circumfufe  the  gravitating  fire. 
Cold  from  each  point  cerulean  luftres  gleam, 
Or  flioot  in  air  the  fcintillating  ftream.  i  340 

Ethereal  foods  amafs.  \.  335.  The  thebry  of  the  accumulation  of  the 
electric  fluid,  by  means  of  the  glafs  globe  and  cufhion,  is  difficult  to  com- 
.prehend.  Dr.  Franklin's  idea  of  the  pores  of  the  glafs  being  opened  by  the 
friction,  and  thence  rendered  capable  of  attracting  more  electric  fluid, 
which  it  again  parts  with,  as  the  pores  contract  again,  feems  analogous,  in 
fome  meafure,  to  the  heat  produced  by  the  vibration,  or  condenfation  of 
bodies,  as  when  a  nail  is  hammered  or  filed  till  it  becomes  hot,  as  mention- 
ed in  additional  notes,  No.  VII.  Some  philofophers  have  endeavoured  to 
account  for  this  phenomenon,  by  fuppofing  the  exiftence  of  two  electric  fluids, 
which  may  be  called  the  vitreous  and  refinous  ones,  inftead  of  the  plus  and 
minus  of  the  fame  ether.  But  its  accumulation  on  the  rubbed  glafs  bears 
great  analogy  to  its  accumulation  on  the  furface  of  the  Leyden  bottle,  and 
cannot,  perhaps,  be  explained  from  any  known  mechanical  or  chemical  prin- 
ciple. See  note  on  Gymnotus,  1.  202  of  this  Canto. 

Cold  from  each  point,  1.  339.     Sec  additional  notes,  No.  XIII. 


CANTO!.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.,  at 

So,  borne  on  brazen  talons,  wafch'd  of  old 
The  fleeplefs  dragon  o'er  his  fruits  of  gold; 
Bright  beam'd  his  fcales,  his  eye-balls  blazed  with  ire, 
And  his  wide  noflrils  breath'd  inchanted  fire. 

"  You  bid  gold-leaves,  in  cryftal  lantherns  held,  345 

Approach  attracted,  and  recede  repell'd; 
While  paper-nymphs  inftincl:  with  motion  rife, 
And  dancing  fauns  the  admiring  Sage  furprize. 
Or,  if  on  wax  fome  fearlefs  Beauty  (land, 
And  touch  the  fparkling  rod  with  graceful  hand ;  350 

Through  her  fine  limbs  the  mimic  lightnings  dart, 
And  flames  innocuous  eddy  round  her  heart : 
O'er  her  fair  brow  the  kindling  luftres  glare, 
Blue  rays  diverging  from  the  bridling  hair  ; 
While  fome  fond  youth  the  kifs  ethereal  fips,  355 

And  foft  fires  iffue  from  their  meeting  lips. 
So  round  the  virgin  Saint  in  filver  dreams 
The  holy  Halo  fhoots  its  arrowy  beams. 

"  You  croud  in  coated  jars  the  denfer  fire, 
Pierce  the  thin  glafs,  and  fufe  the  blazing  wire;  360 


You  bid  gold-leaves,  1.  345.  Alluding  to  the  very  fen fible  electrometer  im- 
proved by  Mr.  Bennett :  it  confifts  of  two  flips  of  gold-leaf  lufpended  from 
a  tin  cap  in  a  glafs  cylinder,  which  has  a  partial  coating  without,  com- 
municating with  the  wooden  ped^ftal.  If  a  ftick  of  fealing-wax  be  rubbed 
for  a  moment  on  a  dry  cloth,  and  then  held  in  the  air,  at  the  dijlance  of  two 
er  three  feet  from  the  cap  of  this  inftrument,  the  gold  leaves  feparate,  fuch 
is  its  aftonifliing  fenfibiiity  to  electric  influence!  (See  Bennett  on  electricity. 
Johnfon.  Lond.)  The  nerves  of  fenfe  of  animal  bodies  do  not  feem  to  be 
affected  by  lefs  quantities  of  light  or  heat. 

'The  holy  Halo.  1.  358.  I  believe  it  is  not  known  with  certainty  at  what 
time  the  painters  firft  introduced  the  luminous  circle  round  the  head,  to  im- 
port a  Saint  or  holy  perfon.  It  is  now  become  a  part  of  the  fymbolic  lan- 
guage of  painting,  and  it  is  much  to  be  wifhed  that  this  kind  of  hieroglyphic 
character  was  more  frequent  in  that  art,  as  it  is  much  wanted  to  render 
hiftoric  pictures  both  more  intelligible  and  more  fublimc ;  and  why  fhoukl 
not  painting,  as  well  as  poetry,  exprefs  itfelf  in  metaphor,  or  in  diftinct  al- 
legory ?  A  truly  great  modern  painter  lately  endeavoured  to  enlarge  the 
fphere  of  pictorial  language,  by  putting  a  demon  behind  the  pillow  of  a 
wicked  man  on  his  death-bed.  Which,  unfortunately  for  the  fcientific  part 
of  painting,  the  cold  criticifm  of  the  prefent  day  has  depreciated,  and  thus 
barred,  perhaps,  the  only  road  to  the  further  improvement  in  this  fcicuce. 


m 

36> 


22  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

Or  dart  the  red  fla(h  through  the  circling  band 

Of  youths  and  timorous  damfels,  hand  in  hand. 

— Starts  the  quick  Ether  through  the  fibre-trains 

Of  dancing  arteries,  and  of  tingling  veins, 

'Goads  each  fine  nerve,  with  new  fenfation  thrill'd, 

Bends  the  relu6uant  limbs  with  power  unwill'd; 

Palfy's  cold  hands  the  fierce  concuffion  own, 

And  Life  clings  trembling  on  her  tottering  throne. — 

So  from  dark  clouds  the  playful  lightning  fprings, 

Rives  the  firm  oak,  or  prints  the  Fairy-rings.  370 

2.   Nymp/is  !  on  that  day  Ye  (hed  from  lucid  eyes 
Celeftial  tears,  and  breathed  ethereal  fighs ! 
When  RICHMAN  rear'd,  by  fearlefs  hafte  betray 'd, 
The  wiry  rod  in  Nieva's  fatal  (hade  ; — 

With  neio  fenfation  tbriWd.  1.  365.  There  is  probably  a  fyftem  of  nerve* 
in  animal  bodies  for  the  purpofe  of  perceiving  heat ;  fmce  the  degree  of  this 
fluid  is  fo  neceffary  to  health,  that  we  become  prefcntly  injured,  either  by  its 
cxcefs  or  defe&;  and  becaufe  aim  oft  every  part  of  our  bodies  is  fupplied 
with  branches  from  different  pairs  of  nerves,  which  would  not  feem  necef- 
fary for  their  motion  alone.  It  is  therefore  probable,  that  our  fenfation  of 
electricity  is  only  of  its  violence  in  paffing  through  our  fyftem,  by  its  fud- 
denly  diftending  the  mufcles,  like  any  other  mechanical  violence;  and  that 
it  is  general  pain  alone  that  we  feel,  and  not  any  fenfation  analogous  to  the 
fpecific  quality  of  the  object.  Nature  may  feem  to  have  been  niggardly  to 
mankind  in  beftowing  upon  them  fo  few  fenfes;  fmce  a  fenfe  to  have  per- 
ceived eledricity,  and  another  to  have  perceived  magnetifm,  might  have 
been  of  great  fervice  to  them,  many  ages  before  thefe  fluids  were  difcovered 
by  accidental  experiment;  but  it  is  pofliblc  an  increafed  number  of  fenfes 
might  have  incommoded  us  by  adding  to  the  fize  of  our  bodies. 

Palfys  cold  hands.  1.  367.  Paralytic  limbs  are  in  general  only  incapable 
of  being  ftimulated  into  adtion  by  the  power  of  the  will;  fmce  the  pulfe 
continues  to  beat,  and  the  fluids  to  be  ablbrbed  in  them ;  and  it  commonly 
happens,  when  paralytic  people  yawn  and  flretch  themfelves  (which  is  not 
a  voluntary  motion,)  that  the  affecled  limb  moves  at  the  fame  time.  The 
temporary  motion  of  a  paralytic  limb  is  likewife  caufed  by  paffing  the  elec- 
tric fhock  through  it;  which  would  feem  to  indicate  fome  analogy  between 
the  elecTric  fluid  and  the  nervous  fluid,  which  is  feparated  from  the  blood 
by  the  brain,  and  thence  diffufed  along  the  nerves,  for  the  purpofes  of  mo- 
tion and  fenfation.  It  probably  deftroys  life,  by  its  fudden  expanfion  of  the 
nerves,  or  fibres  of  the  brain,  in  the  fame  manner  as  it  fufes  metals,  and 
fpfmters  wood  or  ftone,  and  removes  the  atmofphere  when  it  paffes  from 
one  object  to  another  in  a  denfe  ftate. 

Prints  the  Fairy-rings.  1.  370.      See  additional  notes,   No.  XIII. 

When  Rlclman  reared.  1.  373.  Dr.  Richman,  Profeffor  of  Natural  Philo- 
fophy  at  Peterfburgh,  about  the  year  1763,  elevated  an  infulated  metallic 
rod  to  colled:  the  aerial  electricity,  as  Dr.  Frauklin  had  previoufly  done  at 


CANTO!.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  23 

Clouds  o'er  the  Sage,  with  fringed  fkirts  fucceed,  375 

Flam  follows  flalh,  the  warning  corks  recede ; 

Near  and  more  near  He  ey'd,  with  fond  amaze, 

The  filver  ftreams,  and  watch'd  the  fapphire  blaze ; 

Then  burfts  the  fteel,  the  dart  electric  fped, 

And  the  bold  Sage  lay  number'd  with  the  dead  !  380 

Nymphs  !  on  that  day  Ye  fried  from  lucid  eyes 

Celeftial  tears,  and  breathed  ethereal  fighs  ! 

/     3.  "  You  led  your  FRANKLIN  to  your  glaz'd  retreats, 
Your  air-built  caftles,  and  your  filken  feats  ; 
Bade  his  bold  aim  invade  the  lowering  Iky,  385 

And  feize  the  tip-toe  lightnings  ere  they  fly ; 
O'er  the  young  Sage  your  myftic  mantle  fpread, 
And  wreath'd  the  crown  electric  round  his  head. — 
Thus,  when  on  wanton  wing  intrepid  Love 
Snatch'd  the  rais'd  lightning  from  the  arm  of  JOVE  ;          390 

Philadelphia ;  and  as  he  was  obferving  the  repulfion  of  the  balls  of  his 
ele&rometer,  approached  too  near  the  condu&or,  and  receiving  the  light- 
ning in  his  head,  with  a  loud  explofion,  was  ftruck  dead  amidft  his  family. 

You  led  your  Franklin.  1.  383.  Dr.  Franklin  was  the  firft  that  difcovered 
that  lightning  confifted  of  electric  matter;  he  elevated  a  tall  rod  with  a 
wire  wrapped  round  it,  and  fixing  the  bottom  of  a  rod  into  a  glafs  bottle, 
and  preferving  it  from  falling  by  means  of  filk  firings,  he  found  it  eledtrified 
whenever  a  cloud  paffed  over  it,  receiving  fparks  by  his  finger  from  it,  and 
charging  coated  phials.  This  great  difcovery  taught  us  to  defend  houfcs, 
and  (hips,  and  temples,  from  lightning,  and  alfo  to  underfland  that  people 
are  always  perfectly  fafe  in  a  room  during  a  thunder-florm,  if  they  keep  themfcl-ves 
at  three  or  four  fett  diflance  from  the  ivalls ;  for  the  matter  of  lightning,  in 
pafling  from  the  clouds  to  the  earth,  or  from  the  earth  to  the  clouds,  runs 
through  the  walls  of  a  houfe,  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  or  other  elevated  obje<Sl; 
except  there  be  fome  moifter  body,  as  an  animal,  in  contact  with  them,  or 
nearly  To;  and  in  that  cafe  the  lightning  leaves  the  wall  or  tree,  and  pafies 
through  the  animal ;  but  as  it  can  pafs.  through  metals  with  ftill  greater  fa- 
cility, it  will  leave  animal  bodies  to  pafs  through  metallic  ones, 

If  a.  perfon,  in  the  open  air,  be  furprifed  by  a  thunder-ftorm,  he  will  know 
his  danger  by  obferving,  on  a  fecond  watch,  the  time  which  pafies  between 
the  flalh  and  crack,  and  reckoning  a  mile  for  every  four  feconds  and  a  half, 
and  a  little  more.  For  found  travels  at  the  rate  of  1141  feet  in  a  fecond  of 
time;  and  the  velocity  of  light,  through  fuch  fmall  diftances,  is  not  to  be 
eftimated.  In  thefe  circumftances  a  perfon  would  be  fafer  by  lying  down 
on  the  ground  than  ere6t,  and  ftill  fafer  if  within  a  few  feet  of  his  horfe; 
which,  being  then  a  more  elevated  animal,  will  receive  the  fliock  in  pre- 
ference, as  the  cloud  pafles  over.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XIII. 

Intrepid  Love.  1.  389.  This  allegory  is  uncommonly  beautiful,  reprefent- 
ing  Divine  Jufttce  as  difarmed  by  Divine  Love,  and  relenting  of  his  purpofe. 


$4  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Quick  o'er-his  knee  the  triple  bolt  He  bent, 

The  clufter'd  darts  and  forky  arrows  rent, 

Snapt  with  illumin'd  hands  each  flaming  (haft, 

His  tingling  ringers  (hook,  and  ftamp'd,  and  laugh'd; 

Bright  o'er  the  floor  the  fcattered  fragments  blaz'd,  395 

And  Gods,  retreating,  trembled  as  they  gaz'd ; 

The  immortal  Sire,  indulgent  to  his  child, 

Bow'd  his  ambrofial  locks,  and  Heaven,  relenting,  fmiled. 

VIII.  "  When  Air's  pure  eflence  joins  the  vital  flood, 
And  with  phofphoric  Acid  dyes  the  blood,  400 

Your  Virgin  trains  the  tranfient  heat  difpart, 
And  lead  the  foft  combuftion  round  the  heart ; 
Life's  holy  lamp  with  fires  fucceflive  feed, 
From  the  crown'd  forehead  to  the  proftrate  weed, 
From  Earth's  proud  realms  to  all  that  fwim  or  fvveep       405 
The  yielding  ether  or  tumultuous  deep. 
You  fwell  the  bulb  beneath  the  heaving  lawn, 
Brood  the  live  feed,  unfold  the  burfting  ipawn; 


It  is  exprefled  on  an  agate  in  the   Great  Duke's  collection  at   Florence. 
Spence. 

Tranfient  heat  difpart.  1.  401.  Dr.  Crawford,  in  his  ingenious  work  on  ani- 
mal heat,  has  endeavoured  to  prove,  that  during  the  combination  of  the  pure 
part  of  the  atmofphere  with  the  phlogiftic  part  of  the  blood,  that  much  of  the 
matter  of  the  heat  is  given  out  from  the  air  ;  and  that  this  is  the  great  and 
perpetual  fource  of  the  heat  of  animals:  to  which  we  'may  add,  that  the  phof- 
phoric acid  is  probably  produced  by  this  combination;  by  which  acid  the 
colour  of  the  blood  is  changed  in  the  lungs  from  a  deep  crimfon  to  a  bright 
Icarlct.  There  feems  to  he,  however,  another  fource  of  animal  heat,  though 
of  a  fimilar  nature  ;  and  that  is  from  the  chemical  combinations  produced 
in  all  the  glands;  fince,  by  whatever  caufe  any  glandular  fecretion  is  in- 
creafed,  as  by  friction  or  topical  inflammation,  the  heat  of  that  part  becomes 
increased  at  the  fame  time;  thus,  after  the  hands  have  been  for  a  time  im- 
merled  in  fnow,  on  coming  into  a  warm  room,  they  become  red  and  hot, 
without  any  increafed  pulmonary  action.  BESIDES  THIS,  there  would 
ieem  to  be  another  material  received  from  the  air  by  refpiration;  which  is 
fo  neceflary  to  life,  that  the  embryon  muft  learn  to  breathe  almoft  within 
a  minute  after  its  birth,  or  it  dies.  The  perpetual  neceflity  of  breathing 
ihews,  that  the  material  thus  acquired  is  perpetually  confuming  cr  efcap- 
jng,  and,  on  that  account,  requires  perpetual  renovation.  Perhaps  the  fpi- 
rit  of  animation  itfelf  is  thus  acquired  from  the  atmofphere,  which,  if  it 
be  fuppofed  to  be  finer  or  more  fubtle  than  the  electric  matter,  could  not 
.long  be  retained  in  our  bodies,  and  muft  therefore  require  perpetual  reno- 


vaton. 


CANTO  I.       ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  25 

Nurfe  with  foft  lap,  and  warm  with  fragrant  breath 

The  embryon  panting  in  the  arms  of  Death;  410 

Youth's  vivid  eye  with  living  light  adorn, 

And  fire  the  rifing  blufti  of  Beauty's  golden  morn. 

"  Thus  when  the  Egg  of  Night,  on  Chaos  hurl'd, 
Burft,  and  difclofed  the  cradle  of  the  world ; 
Firft  from  the  gaping  (hell  refulgent  fprung  '  41$ 

Immortal  Love,  his  bow  celeftial  ftrung  ; — 
O'er  the  wide  wafte  his  gaudy  wings  unfold, 
Beam  his  foft  fmiles,  and  wave  his  curls  of  gold; 
With  filver  darts  He  pierced  the  kindling  frame, 
And  lit  with  torch  divine  the  ever-living  flame."  420 

IX.    The  Goddefs  paufed,  admired  with  confcious  pride 
The  effulgent  legions  marfhal'd  by  her  fide, 
Forms,  fphered  in  fire,  with  trembling  light  array'd, 
Ens  without  weight,  and  fubftance  without  fhade ; 
And  while  tumultuous  joy  her  bofom  warms,  425 

Waves  her  white  hand,  and  calls  her  hofts  to  arms. 

"  Unite,  illuftrious  Nymphs  !  your  radiant  powers, 
Call  from  their  long  repofe  the  Vernal  Hours. 
Wake  with  foft  touch,  with  rofy  hands  unbind 
The  ftruggling  pinions  of  the  weflern  JVind:  430 

Ybus  tuben  the  Egg  of  Night,  1.  413.  There  were  two  Cupids  belonging 
to  the  ancient  mythology,  one  much  elder  than  the  other.  The  elder  Cu- 
pid, or  Eros,  or  Divine  Love,  was  the  firft  that  came  out  of  the  great 
egg  of  night,  which  floated  in  Chaos,  and  was  broken  by  the  horns  of  the 
celeftial  bull,  that  is,  was  hatched  by  the  warmth  of  the  fpring.  He  was 
winged  and  armed,  and  by  his  arrows  and  torch  pierced  and  vivified  all 
things,  producing  life  and  joy.  Bacon,  vol.  V.  p.  197.  Quarto  edit. 
JLond.  1778.  "  At  this  time,  (fays  Ariftophanes,)  fable-winged  night  pro- 
"  duced  an  egg,  from  whence  fprung  up  like  a  bloffom  Eros,  the  lovely, 
"  the  deflrable,  with  his  glofly  golden  wings."  Avibus.  Bryant's  Mytho- 
logy, vol.  II.  p.  350,  fecond  edition.  This  interefting  moment  of  this 
fublime  allegory,  Mrs.  Cofway  has  chofen  for  her  very  beautiful  painting. 
She  has  reprefented  Eros,  or  Divine  JLove,  with  large  wings,  having  the 
ftrength  of  the  eagle's  wings,  and  the  fplendour  of  the  peacock's,  with  his 
hair  floating  in  the  form  of  flame,  and  with  a  halo  of  light  vapour  round 
his  head,  which  illuminates  the  painting,  while  he  is  in  the  a&  of  fpr ing- 
ing  forwards,  and  with  his  hands  feparating  the  elements. 

Of  the  ivejtern  Wind.  1.  430.  The  principal  frofts  of  this  country  are  ac- 
.companied  or  produced  by  u  N.  E.  wind,  and  the  thaws  by  a  S.  W.  wind; 

PART  I.  E 


26  BOTANIC  QARDEN.  PART  I. 

Chafe  his  wan  cheeks,  his  ruffled  plumes  repair, 

And  wring  the  rain-drops  from  his  tangled  hair. 

Blaze  round  each  Crofted  rill,  or  ftagna'nt  wave, 

And  charm  the  NAIAD  from  her  iilent  cave; 

Where,  ihrined  in  ice,  like  NIOBE  {he  mourns,  435 

And  clafps  with  hoary  arms  her  empty  urns. 

Call  your  bright  myriads,  trooping  from  afar, 

With  beamy  helms,  and  glittering  (hafts  of  war ; 

In  phalanx  firm,  the  Fiend  of  Froft  afTail, 

Break  his  white  towers,  and  pierce  his  cryftal  mail ;  440 

the  rcafon  of  which  is,  that  the  N.  E.  winds  confift  of  regions  of  ai-r  brought 
from  the  north,  which  appear  to  acquire  an  eafterly  direction  as  they  ad- 
vance; and  the  S.  W.  winds  confift  of  regions  of  air  brought  from  the 
fouth,  which  appear  to  acquire  a  wefterly  direction  as  they  advance.  The 
furface  of  the  earth  nearer  the  pole  moves  flower  than  it  dees  in  our  latitude ; 
whence  the  regions  of  air  brought  from  thence  move  flower,  when  they 
arrive  hither,  than  the  earth's  furface,  with  which  they  now  become  in 
contact;  that  is,  they  acquire  an  apparent  eafterly  direction,  as  the  earth 
moves  from  weft  to  eaft  fafter  than  this  new  part  of  its  atmofphere.  The 
S.  W.  winds,  on  the  contrary,  confift  of  regions  of  air  brought  from  the 
fouth,  where  the  furface  of  the  earth  moves  fafter  than  in  our  latitude ;  and 
have,  therefore,  a  wefterly  direction  when  they  arrive  hither,  by  their  mov- 
ing fafter  than  the  furface  of  the  earth,  with  which  they  are  in  contact ; 
and,  in  general,  the  nearer  to  the  weft,  and  the  greater  the  velocity  of  thefe 
winds,  the  warmer  they  fhould  be  in  refpecl  to  the  feafon  of  the  year,  fmce 
they  have  been  brought  more  expeditioufly  from  the  fouth  than  thofe  winds 
which  have  lefs  wefterly  direction,  and  have  thence  been  lefs  cooled  in  their 
paflage. 

Sometimes  I  have  obferved  the  thaw  to  commence  immediately  on  the 
change  of  the  wind,  even  within  an  hour,  if  I  am  not  miftaken,  or  fooner. 
At  other  times,  the  S.  W.  wind  has  continued  a  day,  or  even  two,  before 
the  thaw  has  commenced ;  during  which  time  fome  of  the  frofty  air,  which 
had  gone  fouthwards,  is  driven  back  over  us;  and,  in  confequence,  has  taken 
a  wefterly  direction  as  well  as  a  fouthtrn  one.  At  other  times,  I  have  ob- 
ferved a  froft,  with  a  N.  E.  wind,  every  morning,  and  a  thaw,  with  a  S.  W. 
wind,  every  noon,  for  feveral  days  together.  See  additional  notes,  No. 
XXXIII. 

The  Plcnd  of  Frcjl.  1.  439.  The  principal  injury  done  to  vegetation  by 
froft,  is  from  the  expanfion  of  the  water  contained  in  the  velTels  of  plants. 
Water,  converted  into  ice,  occupies  a  greater  i'pace  than  it  did  before,  as 
appears  by  the  burfting  of  bottles, filled  with  water  at  the  time  of  their  freez- 
ing. Hence  froft  deftroys  thofe  plants  of  our  ifland  firft,  which  are  moft 
fucculent ;  and  the  moft  -fucculent  parts  firft  of  other  plants,  as  their  leaves 
and  laft  year's  fhoots ;  the  vefiels  of  which  are  diftended  and  burft  by  the 
expanfion  of  their  freezing  fluids;  while  the  drier,  or  more  refinous  plants,, 
as  pines,  yews,  laurels,  and  other  ever-grtens,  are  lefs  liable  to  injury  from 
cold.  The  trees  in  vallies  are,  on  this  account,  more  injured  by  the  vernal 
frofts  than  thofe  on  eminences,  becaul'e  their  early  fucculent  fhoots  come 
out  fooner.  Hence  fruit  trees,  covered  by  a  fix-inch  coping  of  a  wall,  are 
lefs  injured  by  the  vevnal  froils,  becaufe  their  being  fhielded  from  Ihowers 


CANTO  I.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  a/ 

To  Zembla's  moon-bright  coafts  the  Tyrant  bear, 
And  chain  him,  howling,  to  the  Northern  Bear. 

**  So  when  enormous  GRAMPUS,  iffuing  forth 
From  the  pale  regions  of  the  icy  North, 
Waves  his  broad  tail,  and  opes  his  ribbed  mouth,  ,445 

And  feeks  on  winnowing  fin  the  breezy  South ; 
From  towns  deferted  rufti  the  breathlefs  hofts, 
Swarm  round  the  hills,  and  darken  all  the  coafts ; 
Boats  follow  boats  along  the  fhouting  tides, 
And  fpears  and  javelins  pierce  his  blubbery  fides ;  450 

Now  the  bold  Sailor,  raifed  on  pointed  toe, 
Whirls  the  wing'd  harpoon  on  the  flimy  foe; 
Quick  finks  the  monfter  in  his  oozy  bed, 
The  blood-ftain'd  furges  circling  o'er  his  head, 
Steers  to  the  frozen  pole  his  wonted  track,  455 

And  bears  the  iron  tempeft  on  his  back. 

/ 

X.  "  On  wings  of  flame  ethereal  Virgins  !  fweep 
O'er  Earth's  fair  bofom,  and  complacent  deep ; 
Where  dwell  my  vegetative  realms  benumb'd, 
In  buds  imprifon'd  or  in  bulbs  iutomb'd.  460 

and  the  defcending  night-dews,  has  prevented  them  from  Being  moift  at 
the  time  of  their  being  frozen ;  which  circumftance  has  given  occafion  to  a 
vulgar  error  amongft  gardeners,  who  fuppofe  froft  to  defcend. 

As  the  common  heat  of  the  earth,  in  this  climate,  is  48  degrees,  thofe  ten- 
der trees  which  will  bear  bending  down,  are  eafily  fecured  from  the  froft, 
by  fpreading  them  upon  the  ground,  and  covering  them  with  ftraw  or  fern. 
This  particularly  fuits  fig-trees,  as  they  eafily  bear  bending  to  the  ground, 
and  are  furnifned  with  an  acrid  juice,  which  fecures  them  from  the  depre- 
dations of  infecls,  but  are,  neverthelefs,  liable  to  be  eaten  by  mice.  See  ad- 
ditional notes,  No.  XII. 

In  buds  imprifond.  1.  460.  The  buds  and  bulbs  of  plants  conftitute  what  is 
termed  by  Linnaeus  the  Hybernaculum,  or  winter  cradle  of  the  embryon  ve- 
getable. The  buds  arife  from  the  bark  on  the  branches  of  trees,  and  the 
bulbs  from  the  caudex  of  bulbous-rooted  plants,  or  the  part  from  which  the 
fibres  of  the  root  are  produced:  they  are  defended  from  too  much  moifture, 
and  from  frofts,  and  from  the  depredations  of  infects,  by  various  contrivances, 
as  by  fcales,  hairs,  refmous  varnifhes,  and  by  acrid  rinds. 

The  buds  of  trees  are  of  two  kinds,  either  flower-buds  or  leaf-buds;  the 
former  of  thefe  produce  their  feeds,  and  die ;  the  latter  produce  other  leaf- 
buds,  or  flower -buds,  and  die.  So  that  all  the  buds  of  trees  may  be  confi- 
dered  as  annual  plants,  having  their  embryon  produced  during  the  preceding 
fummer.  The  fame  feems  to  happen  with  refpe6t  to  bulbs;  thus  a  tulip 
produces  annually  one  flower-bearing  bulb,  fometimes  two,  and  feveral  leaf- 


a8  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  T. 

Pervade,  pellucid  Forms  !  their  cold  retreat, 
Ray  from  bright  urns  your  viewlefs  floods  of  heat ; 
From  Earth's  deep  waftes  define  torrents  pour, 
Or  fhed  from  heaven  the  fcintillating  fhower ; 

bearing  bulbs ;  and  then  the  old  root  perifhes.  Next  year  the  flower-bearing 
bulb  produces  feeds  and  other  bulbs,  and  perifhes ;  while  the  leaf-bearing 
bulb,  producing  other  bulbs  only,  perifhes  likewife ;  thefe  circumftances 
cftablifh  a  ftridt  analogy  between  bulbs  and  buds.  See  additional  notes, 
No.  XIV. 

Fieiulefs  foods  cf  beat.  1.  461.  The  fluid  matter  of  heat,  or  Calorique,  in 
which  all  bodies  are  immerfed,  is  as  neceflary  to  vegetable  as  to  animal  ex- 
iftence.  It  is  not  yet  determinable  whether  heat  and  light  be  different  ma- 
terials, or  modifications  of  the  fame  materials,  as  they  have  fome  properties 
in  common.  They  appear  to  be  both  of  them  equally  neceffary  to  vegeta- 
ble health,  fmce,  without  light,  green  vegetables  become  firfl  yellow  ;  that 
is,  they  lofe  their  blue  colour,  which  contributed  to  produce  the  green ;  and 
afterwards  they  alfo  lofe  the  yellow,  and  become  white ;  as  is  feen  in  cel-» 
lery  blanched  or  etiolated  for  the  table,  by  excluding  the  light  from  it. 

The  upper  furface  of  leaves,  which  I  fuppofe  to  be  their  organ  of  refpira- 
tion4  feems  to  require  light  as  well  as  air;  fmce  plants  which  grow  in  win- 
dows, on  the  infide  of  houfes,  are  equally  folicitous  to  turn  the  upper  fide 
of  their  leaves  to  the  light.  Vegetables,  at  the  fame  time,  exfude  or  per- 
fpire  a  great  quantity  from  their  leaves,  as  animals  do  from  their  lungs;  this 
perfpirable  matter,  as  it  rifes  from  their  fine  veflels,  (perhaps  much  finer 
than  the  pores  of  animal  fkins,)  is  divided  into  inconceivable  tenuity ;  and, 
when  a&ed  upon  by  the  fun's  light,  appears  to  be  decompofed;  the  hydro- 
gene  becomes  a  part  of  the  vegetable,  competing  oils  or  refins;  and  the  oxy- 
gene,  combined  with  light  or  calorique,  afcends,  producing  the  pure  part  of 
the  atmofphere,  or  vital  air.  Hence,  during  the  light  of  the  day,  vegetables 
give  up  more  pure  air  than  their  refpiration  injures;  but  not  fo  in  the  night, 
even  though  equally  expofed  to  warmth.  This  fingle  fa6t  would  feem  to 
ihew,  that  light  is  effentially  different  from  heat;  and  it  is,  perhaps,  by  its 
combination  with  bodies,  that  their  combined  or  latent  heat  is  fet  at  liberty, 
and  becomes  fenfible.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXIV. 

Electric  torrents  pour.  1.  463.  The  influence  of  electricity  in  forwarding 
*he  germination  of  plants,  and  their  growth,  feems  to  be  pretty  well  efta- 
blifhed,  though  Mr.  Ingenhouz  did  not  fucceed  in  his  experiments,  and 
thence  doubts  the  fuccefs  of  thofe  of  others;  and  though  Mr.  Rouland, 
from  his  new  experiments,  believes  that  neither  pofitive  nor  negative  elec- 
tricity increafes  vegetation,  both  which  philosophers  had  previoufly  been 
fuppofters  of  the  contrary  doctrine,  for  many  other  naturalifts  have  fmce 
repeated  their  experiments  relative  to  this  object,  and  their  new  refults 
have  confirmed  their  former  ones.  Mr.  D'Ormoy,  and  the  two  Roziers, 
have  found  the  fame  fuccefs  in  numerous  experiments  which  they  have  made 
in  the  laft  two  years;  and  Mr.  Carmoy  has  fhewn,  in  a  convincing  manner, 
that  electricity  accelerates  germination. 

Mr.  D'Ormoy  not  only  found  various  feeds  to  vegetate  fooner,  and  to 
grow  taller,  which  were  put  upon  his  infulated  table,  and  fupplied  with  elec- 
tricity, but  alfo,  that  filk-worms  began  to  fpin  much  fooner  which  were 
kept  electrified,  than  thofe  of  the  fame  hatch,  which  were  kept  in  the 
fame  place  and  manner,  except  that  they  were  not  electrified.  Thefe  ex- 
periments of  M%  D'Ormoy  are  detailed  at  length  in  the  Journal  de  Phyfique 
cf  Rozier,  Tom.  XXXV.  p.  270. 


CANT6I.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  ^ 

Pierce  the  dull  root,  relax  its  fibre-trains,  465 

Thaw  the  thick  blood,  which  lingers  in  its  veins ; 
Melt  with  warm  breath  the  fragrant  gums,  that  bind 
The  expanding  foliage  in  its  fcaly  rind ; 
And  as  in  air  the  laughing  leaflets  play, 
And  turn  their  {tuning  bofoms  to  the  ray,  470 

NYMPHS  !  with  fweet  fmile,  each  opening  flower  invite, 
And  on  its  damaflk  eyelids  pour  the  light. 

"  So  (hall  my  pines,  Canadian  wilds  that  (hade, 
Where  no  bold  ftep  has  pierc'd  the  tangled  glade, 
High-towering  palms,  that  part  the  Southern  flood,  475 

With  fhadowy  ifles,  and  continents  of  wood, 
Oaks,  whofe  broad  antlers  creft  Britannia's  plain, 
Or  bear  her  thunders  o'er  the  conquer'd  main, 
Shout,  as  you  pafs,  inhale  the  genial  ikies, 
And  bafk  and  brighten  in  your  beamy  eyes ;  480 

BOW  their  white  heads,  admire  the  changing  clime; 
Shake  from  their  candied  trunks  the  tinkling  rime ; 
With  burfting  buds  their  wrinkled  barks  adorn, 
And  wed  the  timorous  floret  to  her  thorn ; 
Deep  ftrike  their  roots,  their  lengthening  tops  revive,       485 
And  all  my  world  of  foliage  wave,  alive. 

"  Thus,  with  Hermetic  art,  the  ADEPT  combines 
The  royal  acid  with  cobaltic  mines ; 

M.  Bartholon,  who  had  before  written  a  tract  on  this  fubject,  and  pro- 
pored  ingenious  methods  for  applying  electricity  to  agriculture  and  garden- 
ing, has  alfo  repeated  a  numerous  fet-of  experiments;  and  fhews,  both  that 
natural  electricity,  as  well  as  the  artificial,  increafes  the  growth  of  plants, 
and  the  germination  of  feeds;  and  oppofes  Mr.  Ingenhouz  by  very  nume- 
rous and  conclufive  facts.  Ib.  Tom.  XXXV.  p.  401. 

Since,  by  the  late  difcoveries  or  opinions  of  the  chemifts,  there  is  reafon 
to  believe,  that  water  is  decompofed  in  the  veflels  of  vegetables ;  and  that 
the  Hydrogene,  or  inflammable  air,  of  which  it  in  part  confifls,  contributes 
to  the  nourifhment  of  the  plant,  and  to  the  production  of  its  oils,  refms, 
gums,  fugar,  &c.  and,  laftly,  as  electricity  decompofes  water  into  thefe 
two  airs,  termed  Oxygene  and  Hydrogene,  there  is  a  powerful  analogy  to 
induce  us  to  believe,  that  it  accelerates  or  contributes  to  the  growth  of  ve- 
getation, and,  like  heat,  may  pofiibly  enter  into  combination  with  many 
bodies,  or  form  the  bafis  of  fome  yet  unanalized  acid. 

Tk:is  ivith  Hermetic  art.  1.  487.  The  fympathetic  inks  made  by  Zaffre, 
difiblvedin  the  marine  and  nitrous  acids,  have  this  curious  property,  that, 


3$  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Marks,  with  quick  pen,  in  lines  unfeen  portrayed, 

The  blu(hing  mead,   green  dell,  and  dufky  glade;  490 

Shades,  with  pellucid  clouds,  the  tintlefs  field, 

And  all  the  future  Group  exifts  conceal'd ; 

Till,  waked  by  fire,  the  dawning  tablet  glows, 

Green  fprings  the  herb,  the  purple  floret  blows ; 

Hills,  vales,  and  woods,  in  bright  fucceffion  rife,  495 

And  all  the  living  landfcape  charms  his  eyes. 

XI.  "  With  creft  of  gold  fhould  fuhry  SIRTUS  glare, 
And  with  his  kindling  treffes  fcorch  the  air; 
With  points  of  flame  the  (hafts  of  Summer  arm, 
And  burn  the  beauties  he  defigns  to  warm : —  500 

So  erft  when  JOVE  his  oath  extorted  mourn 'd, 
And,  clad  in  glory,  to  the  Fair  return'd ; 
While  Loves  at  forky  bolts  their  torches  light, 
And  refting  lightnings  gild  the  car  of  Night; 
His  blazing  form  the  dazzled  Maid  admir'd,  505 

Met  with  fond  lips,  and  in  his  arms  expir'd; — 
Nymphs  !  on  light  pinion  lead  your  banner'd  hofts 
High  o'er  the  cliffs  of  ORKNEY'S  gulphy  coafts  ; 
Leave  on  your  left  the  red  volcanic  light, 
Which  HECLA  lifts  amid  the  dufky  night;  510 

Mark,  on  the  right,  the  Dofrinis  fnow-capt  brow, 
Where  whirling  Maelftrome  roars  and  foams  below ; 
Watch,  with  unmoving  eye,  where  CEP  HE  us  bends 
His  triple  crown,  his  fcepter'd  hand  extends ; 


being  brought  to  the  fire,  one  of  them  becomes  green,  and  the  other  red; 
but  what  is  more  wonderful,  they  again  lofe  thefc  colours  (unlefs  the  heat 
has  been  too  great,)  on  their  being  again  withdrawn  from  the  fire.  Fire- 
fcreens  have  been  thus  painted,  which,  in  the  cold,  have  fhewn  only  the 
trunk  and  branches  of  a  dead  tree,  and  fandy  hills,  which,  on  their  approach 
to  the  fire,  have  put  forth  green  leaves  and  red  flowers,  and  grafs  upon  the 
mountains.  The  procefs  of  making  thcfc  inks  is  very  eafy;  take  Zaffire,  as 
fold  by  the  druggifts,  and  digeft  it  in  aqua-regia,  and  the  calx  of  Cobalt  will 
be  dhTolved ;  which  folution  muft  be  diluted  with  a  little  common  water, 
to  prevent  it  frorn  making  too  ftrong  an  impreffion  on  the  paper;  the  co- 
lour, when  the  paper  is  heated,  becomes  of  a  fine  green-blue.  If  Zaffre,  or 
Regulus  of  Cobalt,  be  diffolved  in  the  fame  manner  in  fpirit  of  nitre,  or 
aqua-fortis,  a  reddifh  colour  is  produced  on  expofing  the  paper  to  heat.  Che- 
mical Dictionary,  by  Mr.  Keir,  art.  Ink  Sympathetic. 


CANTCX!.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  $t 

Where  ftuds  CASSIOPE,  with  ftars  unknown,  515 

Her  golden  chair,  and  gems  her  fapphire  zone  ; 

Where  with  vaft  convolution  DRACO  holds 

The  ecliptic  axis  in  his  fcaly  folds, 

O'er  half  the  ikies  his  neck  enormous  rears, 

And  with  immenfe  meanders  parts  the  BEARS;  520 

Onward  the  kindred  BEARS,  with  footftep  rude, 

Dance  round  the  pole,  purfuing  and  purfued. 

*'  There  in  her  azure  coif  and  ft  any  dole, 
Grey  Twilight  fits,  and  rules  the  {lumbering  Pole; 
Bends  the  pale  moon-beams  round  the  fparkling  coaft,      525 
And  ftrews,  with  livid  hands,  eternal  froft. 
There,  Nymphs  !  alight,  array  your  dazzling  powers, 
With  fudden  march  alarm  the  torpid  Hours ; 
On  ice-built  ifles  expand  a  thoufand  fails, 
Hinge  the  ftrong  helms,  and  catch  the  frozen  gales;         530 

With  Jlars  unknown.  1.  515.  Alluding  to  the  ftar  which  appeared  in  the 
thair  of  Cafliopea  in  the  year  1572,  which,  at  firft,  furpaffed  Jupiter  in  mag- 
nitude and  brightnefs,  diminifhed  by  degrees,  and  difappeared  in  1 8  months; 
it  alarmed  all  the  aftronomers  of  the  age,  and  was  efteemed  a  comet  by 
ibme. — Could  this  have  been  the  Georgium  Sidus  ? 

On  ice-built  i/les.  1.  529.  There  are  many  reafons  to  believe,  from  the  ac- 
counts of  travellers  and  navigators,  that  the  iflands  of  ice  in  the  higher 
northern  latitudes,  as  well  as  the  Glaciers  on  the  Alps,  continue  perpetually 
to  increafe  in  bulk.  At  certain  times  in  the  ice-mountains  of  Switzerland, 
there  happen  cracks  which  have  fhown  the  great  thicknefs  of  the  ice,  as 
fome  of  thefe  cracks  have  meafured  three  or  four  hundred  ells  deep.  The 
great  iflands  of  ice  in  the  northern  feas  near  Hudfon's  bay,  have  been  ob- 
ferved  to  have  been  immerfed  above  one  hundred  fathoms  beneath  the  fur- 
lace  of  the  fea,  and  to  have  rifen  a  fifth  or  fixth  part  above  the  furface,  and 
to  have  meafured  between  three  and  four  miles  in  circumference.  PhiL 
Tranf.  No.  465.  Se&.  2. 

Dr.  Lifter  endeavoured  to  mew,  that  the  ice  of  fea-water  contains  fome 
fait,  and  perhaps  lefs  air  than  common  ice,  and  that  it  is,  therefore,  much 
more  difficult  of  folution;  whence  he  accounts  for  the  perpetual  and  great 
increafe  of  thefe  floating  iflands  of  ice.  Philof.  Tranf.  No.  169. 

As,  by  a  famous  experiment  of  Mr.  Boyle's,  it  appears,  that  ice  evapo- 
rates very  faft  in  fevere  frofty  weather,  when  the  wind  blows  upon  it ;  and 
as  ice,  in  a  thawing  ftate,  is  known  to  contain  fix  times  more  cold  than  wa- 
ter at  the  fame  degree  of  fenfible  coldnefs,  it  is  eafy  to  underftand,  that 
winds  blowing  over  iflands  and  continents  of  ice,  perhaps  much  below  no- 
thing on  Fahrenheit's  fcale,  and  coming  from  thence  into  our  latitude,  muft 
bring  great  degrees  of  cold  along  with  them.  If  we  add  to  this  the  quan- 
tity of  cold  produced  by  the  evaporation  of  the  water,  as  well  as  by  the 
folution  of  the  ice,  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  the  northern  ice  is  the  prin- 
cipal fource  of  the  coldnefs  of  our  winters,  and  that  it  is  brought  hither  by 
ihe  regions  of  air  blowing  from  the  north,  and  which  take  an  apparent 


ji  BOTANIC  GARDEN'.  PART!, 

The  winged  rocks  to  feverifh  climates  guide, 

Where  fainting  Zephyrs  pant  upon  the  tide ; 

Pafs,  where  to  CEUTA  CALPE'S  thunder  roars, 

And  anfwering  echoes  (hake  the  kindred  {bores ; 

Pafs,  where  with  palmy  plumes  CANARY  fmiles,  535 

And  in  her  filver  girdle  binds  her  ifles ; 

Onward,  where  Niger's  dufky  Naiad  laves 

A  thoufand  kingdoms  with  prolific  waves, 

Or  leads  o'er  golden  fands  her  threefold  train 

In  fteamy  channels  to  the  fervid  main,  540 

While  fwarthy  nations  croud  the  fultry  coafl, 

Drink  the  frerti  breeze,  and  hail  the  floating  Froft, 

Nymphs  !  veilM  in  mift,  the  melting  treafures  fleer, 

And  cool,  with  ar£tic  fnows,  the  tropic  year. 

So  from  the  burning  Line,  by  Monfoons  driven,       .        545 

Clouds  fail  in  fquadrons  o'er  the  darkened  heaven ; 


eafterly  direction,  by  their  coming  to  a  part  of  the  fufface  of  the  earth  which 
moves  fafter  than  the  latitude  they  come  from.  Hence  the  increafe  of  the 
ice  in  the  polar  regions,  by  increasing  the  cold  of  our  climate,  adds,  at  the 
fame  time,  to  the  bulk  of  the  Glaciers  of  Italy  and  Switzerland. 

If  the  nations  who  inhabit  this  hemifphere  of  the  globe,  inftead  of  de- 
ftroying  their  feamen,  and  exhaufting  their  wealth  in  unneceffary  wars, 
could  be  induced  to  unite  their  labours  to  navigate  thefe  immenfe  mafles  of 
ice  into  the  more  fouthern  oceans,  two  great  advantages  would  refult  to 
mankind;  the  tropic  countries  would  be  much  cooled  by  their  iblution,  and 
our  winters,  in  this  latitude,  would  be  rendered  much  milder,  for  perhaps 
a  century  or  two,  till  the  mafles  of  ice  become  again  enormous. 

Mr.  Bradley  afcribes  the  cold  winds  and  wet  weather  which  fometimes 
happen  in  May  and  June,  to  the  folution  of  ice-iflands  accidentally  floating 
from  the  north.  Treatife  on  Huibandry  and  Gardening,  vol.  II.  p.  437. 
And  adds,  that  Mr.  Barham,  about  the  year  1718,  in  his  voyage  from  Ja- 
maica to  England,  in  the  beginning  of  June,  met  with  ice-iflands  coming 
from  the  north,  which  were  furrounded  with  fo  great  a  fog,  that  the  fhip 
was  in  danger  of  flriking  upon  them,  and  that  one  of  them  meafured  fixty 
miles  in  length. 

We  have  lately  experienced  an  inftance  of  ice-iflands  brought  from  the 
fouthern  polar  regions,  on  which  the  Guardian  {truck  at  the  beginning  of 
her  pafluge  from  the  Cape  of  Good-Hope  towards  Botany-Bay,  on  Decem- 
ber 22,  1789.  Thefe  iflands  were  involved  in  mift,  were  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  fathoms  long,  and  about  fifty  fathoms  above  the  furface  of  the 
water.  A  part  from  the  top  of  one  of  them  broke  otF,  and  fell  into  the 
fea,  caufing  an  extraordinary  commotion  in  the  water,  and  a  thick  fmoke 
all  round  it. 

Threefold  train.  1.  539.  The  river  Niger,  after  traverfing  an  immenfe 
tra.51  of  populous  country,  is  fuppofed  to  divide  itfelf  into  three  other  great 
rivers;  the  Rio  Grande,  the  Gambia,  and  the  Senegal.  Gold-dull  is  ob- 
tained from  the  fands  of  thefe  rivers. 


CANTO  I.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  33 

Wide  wades  of  fand  the  gelid  gales  pervade, 
And  Ocean  cools  beneath  the  moving  (hade. 

'    XII.   Should  SOLSTICE,  ftalking  through  the  fickening 

bower;s, 

Suck  the  warm  dew-drops,  lap  the  falling  mowers;         550 
Kneel,  with  parch'd  lip,  and  bending  from  its  brink, 
From  dripping  palm  the  fcanty  river  drink ; 
Nymphs !   o'er  die  foil  ten  thoufand  points  ere£t> 
And  high  in  air  the  electric  flame  collecl:. 
Soon  (hall  dark'  mifts,  with  felf-attraclion,  mroud  555 

The  blazing  day,  and  fail  in  wilds  of  cloud; 
Each  tilvery  Flower  the  dreams  aerial  quaff, 
Bow  her  fweet  head,  and  infant  Harved  laugh. 

"  Thus  when  ELIJA  mark'd  from  CarmePs  brow 
In  bright  expanfe  the  briny  flood  below ; 
Roli'd  his  red  eyes  amid  the  fcorching  air, 
Smote  his  firm(bread,  and  breath'd  his  ardent  prayer; 


Wide  ivajlt-s  of  fund.  1.  547.  When  the  fun  is  in  the  fouthem  tropic,  3<jf 
deg.  diftant  from  the  zenith,  the  thermometer  is  feldom  lower  than  72  deg. 
at  Gonclar,  in  Abyffinia,  but  it  fails  to  60  or  53  deg.  when  the  fun  is  im- 
mediately vertical ;  fo  much  does  the  approach  of  rain  counteract  the  heat 
of  the  fun.  Bruce's  Travels,  vol.  III.  p.  ^70. 

Ten  tboufand points  erett.  1.  553.  The  folution  of  water  in  air,  or  in  calo- 
rique,  feems  to  acquire  electric  matter,  at  the  fame  time,  as  appears  from 
an  experiment  of  Mr.  Bennet.  He  put  fome  live  coals  into  an  infulated 
funnel  of  metal,  and  throwing  on  them  a  little  water,  obferved,  that  the  af- 
cending  fleam  was  eleclrifed  plus,  and  the  water  which  defcended  through 
the  funnel  was  electrifed  minus.  Hence  it  appears,  that  though  clouds,  by 
their  change  of  form,  may  fometimes  become  eledtrifed  minus,  yet  they 
have,  in  general,  an  accumulation  of  electricity.  This  accumulation  of 
electric  matter  alfo  evidently  contributes  to  fupport  the  atmofpheric  vapour 
^vheft  it  is  condenled  into  the  form  of  clouds,  bccaufe  it  is  feen  to  deicend 
rapidly  after  the  flaihes  of  lightning  have  diminifhed  its  quantity;  whence 
there  is  reafon  to  conclude,  that  very  numerous  metallic  rods,  with  fine 
points  erected  high  in  the  air,  might  induce  it,  at  any  time,  to  part  with 
fome  of  its  water. 

If  we  may  trull  the  theory  of  Mr.  Lavoifier  Concerning  the  compofi- 
tion  and  decompoljtion  of  water,  there  would  feem  another  fource  of 
thunder- (howers;  and  that  is,  that  the  two  gaffes  termed  exygene  gas,  or 
vital  air,  and  hydrogene  gas,  or  inflammable  air,  may  exift  in  the  lummer 
atmoiphere  in  a  ftate  of  mixture,  but  not  of  combination,  and  that  the  elec- 
tric fpark,  or  flalh  of  lightning,  may  combine  them,  and  produce  water  in* 
flantaneoufly. 

PART  I.  f 


34  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

High  in  the  miclft  a  mafly  altar  flood, 

And  flaughter'd  offerings  prefs'd  the  piles  of  wood ; 

While  ISRAEL'S  chiefs  thefacred  hill  furround,  565 

And  famifh'd  armies  croud  the  dufty  ground ; 

While  proud  Idolatry  was  leagu'd  with  dearth, 

And  withered  Famine  fwept  the  defert  earth. — 

"  O/2,  mighty  LORD  !   thy  woe-worn  fervant  hear, 

"  Who  calls  thy  name  in  agony  of  prayer;  570 

"  Thy  fanes  difhonour'd,  and  thy  prophets  (lain, 

"  Lo  !   I  alone  furvive  of  all  thy  train  ! — 

"  Oh,  fend  from  heaven  thy  facred  fire — and  pour 

"  O'er  the  parch'd  land  the  falutary  fhower, — 

"  So  fhall  thy  Prieft  thy  erring  flock  recal, —  575 

"  And  fpeak  in  thunder,-  Thou  art  Lord  of  all." — 

He  cried,  and  kneeling  on  the  mountain-fands, 

Stretch'd  high  in  air  his  fupplicating  hands. 

- — Defcending  flames  the  dufky  fhrine  illume; 

Fire  the  wet  wood,  the  facred  bull  confume ;  580 

Wing'd  from  the  fea  the  gathering  mitts  arife, 

And  floating  waters  darken  all  the  fkies ; 

The  King,  with  fluffed  reins,  his  chariot  bends, 

And  wide  o'er  earth  the  airy  flood  defcends; 

With  mingling  cries  difperfing  hofts  applaud,  585 

And  (homing  nations  own  THE  LIVING  GOD." 

The  Goddcfs  ceafed — the  exulting  tribes  obey, 
Start  from  the  foil,  and  win  their  airy  way ; 
The  vaulted  fkies,  with  ftreams  of  tranfient  rays, 
Shine,  as  they  pafs,  and  earth  and  ocean  blaze.  596 

So  from  fierce  wars,  when  lawlefs  Monarchs  ceafe, 
Or  Liberty  returns  with  laurel'd  Peace, 
Bright  fly  the  fparks,  the  colour'd  luftres  burn, 
Flafli  follows  flufli.  and  flame- wino'd.  circles  turn; 
Blue  ferpents  fvveep  along  the  dufky  air,  595 

Lnp'd  by  long  trains  of  fcinlillating  hair; 
Red  rockets  rife,  loud  cracks  are  heard  on  high, 
And  fhowers  of  flars  rufh  headlong  from  the  fky, 
Burft,  as  in  iilver  lines  they  hifs  along, 
And  the  quick  flam,  unfolds  the  gazing  throng.  600 


ARGUMENT 


SECOND    CANTO. 


ADDRESS  to  the  Gnomes.  I.  The  Earth  thrown  from  a  volcano  of  thev 
Sun  ;  its  atmofphere  and  ocean ;  its  journey  through  the  zodiac ;  vicifiitude 
of  day-light,  and  of  feafons,  II.  II.  Primeval  Iflands.  Paradife,  or  the 
golden  age.  Venus  rifmg  from  the  fea,  33.  III.  The  firft  great  earthquakes ; 
continents  raifed  from  the  fea;  the  Moon  thrown  from  a  volcano,  has  no 
atmofphere,  and  is  frozen;  the  earth's  diurnal  motion  retarded;  its  axis 
jnorc  inclined;  whirls  with  the  moon  round  a  new  centre,  67.  IV.  Forma- 
tion of  lime-fton*  by  aqueous  folution;  calcareous  fpar;  white  marble;  an- 
cient ftatue  of  Hercules  refting  from  his  labours.  Antinous.  Apollo  of 
Belvidere.  Venus  de  Medici.  Lady  Elizabeth  Fofter,  and  Lady  Melbourn, 
by  Mrs.  Darner,  93.  V.  i.  Of  moraffes.  Whence  the  production  of  fait 
by  elutriation.  Salt-mines  at  Cracow,  115.  2.  Production  of  nitre.  Mars 
and  Venus  caught  by  Vulcan,  143.  3.  Production  of  iron.  Mr.  Michel's 
improvement  of  artificial  magnets.  Ufes  of  fteel  in  agriculture,  navigation, 
war,  183.  4.  Production  of  acids,  whence  Flint,  Sea-fand,  Selenite,  Af- 
beflus,  Fluor,  Onyx,  Agate,  Mocho,  Opal,  Sapphire,  Ruby,  Diamond. 
Jupiter  and  Europa,  215.  VI.  I.  New  fubterraneous  fires  from  fermenta- 
tion. Production  of  Clays;  manufacture  of  Porcelain  in  China;  in  Italy; 
in  England.  Mr.  Wedgwood's  works  at  Etruria,  in  Staffordfhire.  Ca- 
meo of  a  Slave  in  Chains ;  of  Hope.  Figures  on  the  Portland  or  Barberini 
vafe  explained,  271.  2.  Coal;  Pyrite;  Naptha;  Jet;  Amber.  Dr.  Frank- 
lin's difcovery  of  difarming  the  Tempeft  of  its  lightning.  Liberty  of  Ame- 
rica; of  Ireland;  of  France,  349.  VII.  Ancient  central  fubterraneous  fires. 
Production  of  Tin,  Copper,  Zink,  Lead,  Mercury,  Platina,  Gold,  and  Sil- 
ver. Deftruction  of  Mexico.  Slavery  of  Africa,  395.  VIII.  Deftruction 
of  the  armies  of  Cambyfes,  431.  IX.  Gnomes  like  ftars  of  an  Orrery.  Inroads 
of  the  fea  flopped.  Rocks  cultivated.  Hannibal  paffes  the,  Alps,  499.  X. 
Matter  circulates.  Manures  to  Vegetables  like  Chyle  to  Animals.  Plants 
rifmg  from  the  Earth.  St.  Peter  delivered  from  Prifon,  537.  Tranfmi- 
gration  of  matter,  575.  Death  and  refufcitation  of  Adonis,  585.  Depar- 
ture of  the  Gnomes,  6ll. 


THE 

BOTANIC  GARDEN. 

ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION. 
CANTO  II. 

-TxND  now  the  Goddefs,  with  attention  fweet, 

Turns  to  the  Gnomes  that  circle  round  her  feet ; 

Orb  within  orb  approach  the  marftial'd  trains, 

And  pigmy  legions  darken  all  the  plains ; 

Thrice  fhout,  with  lilver  tones,  the  applauding  bands,  5 

Bow,  ere  She  fpeaks,  and  clap  their  fairy  hands. 

So  the  tall  grafs,  when  noon-tide  zephyr  blows, 

Bends  its  green  blades  in  undulating  rows ; 

Wide  o'er  the  fields  the  billowy  tumult  fpreads, 

And  ruftling  harvefts  bow  their  golden  heads.  10 

I.  "  Gnomes  !  your  bright  forms,  prefiding  at, her  birth, 
Clung  in  fond  fquadrons  round  the  new-born  Earth ; 
When  high  in  ether,'  with  explofion  dire, 
From  the  deep  craters  of  his  realms  of  fire, 
The  whirling  Sun  this  ponderous  planet  hurl'd,  15 

And  gave  the  aftonifh'd  void  another  world. 
When  from  its  vaporous  air,  condenfed  by  cold, 
Defcending  torrents  into  oceans  roll'd ; 

From  the  deep  craters.  I.  14.  The  exiftence  of  folar  volcanos  is  counte- 
nanced by  their  analogy  to  terreftrial  and  lunar  volcanos,  and  by  the  fpots 
on  the  fun's  dilk,  which  have  been  fhewn  by  Dr.  Wilfon  to  be  excavations 
through  its  luminous  furface,  and  may  be  fuppofed  to  be  the  cavities  from, 
whence  the  planets  and  comets  were  ejected  by  explofions.  See  additional 
notes,  No.  XV.  on  folar  volcanos. 

When  from  its  -vaporous  air.  1.  17.  If  the  nucleus  of  the  earth  was  thrown 
out  from  the  fun  by  an  explofion,  along  with  as  large  a  quantity  of  fur- 
rounding  hot  vapour  as  its  attraction  would  occafion  to  accompany  it,  the 
ponderous  fcmi-fluid  nucleus,  would  take  a  fpherical  form,  from  the  attrac- 


3.8  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

And  fierce  attraction,  with  relcntlefs  force, 

Bent  the  reluctant  wanderer  to  its  courfe.  20 

"  Where  yet  the  Bull,  with  diamond-eye,  adorns 
The  Spring's  fair  forehead,  and  with  golden  horns ; 
Where  yet  the  Lion  climbs  the  ethereal  plain, 
And  {hakes  the  Summer  from  his  radiant  mane ; 
Where  Libra  lifts  her  airy  arm,  and  weighs,  25 

Poifed  in  her  filver  balance,  nights  and  days; 
With  paler  luftres  where  Aquarius  burns, 
And  mowers  the  ftill  fnow  from  his  hoary  urns; 
Your  ardent  troops  purfued  the  flying  fphere, 
Circling  the  ftarry  girdle  of  the  year;  30 

While  fvveet  viciffitudes  of  day  and  clime 
JyfarkM  the  new  annals  of  enafcent  Time. 

II.  "  You  trod,  with  printlefs  ftep,  Earth's  tender  globe, 
While  Ocean  wrap'd  it  in  his  azure  robe ; 
Beneath  his  waves  her  hardening  ftrata  fpread,  35 

Raifed  her  Primeval  I/lands  from  his  bed, 

tlon  of  Its  own  parts,  which  would  become  an  oblate  fpheroid  from  its  di- 
urnal revolution.  As  the  vapour  cooled  the  water  v/ould  be  precipitated, 
and  an  ocean  would  furround  the  fpherical  nucleus  with  a  fuper-incumbent 
atmofphere.  The  nucleus  of  folar  lava  would  likewife  become  harder  as  it 
became  cooler.  To  underftand  how  the  ftrata  of  the  earth  were  afterwards 
formed  from  the  fediments  of  this  circumfluent  ocean,  the  reader  is  refer- 
red to  an  ingenious  Treatife  on  the  Theory  of  tHe  Earth,  by  Mr.  White- 
hurfl,  who  was.  many  years  a  watch-maker  and  engineer  'at  Derby,  but 
whofe  ingenuity,  integrity,  and  humanity,  were  rarely  equalled  in  any  fta- 
tion  of  life. 

While  Ocean  larap'd.  1.  34.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XVI.  on  the  pro- 
duction of  calcareous  earth. 

Her  hardening Jlrata  fpread.  \.3$.  The  granite,  or  moor-ftone,  or  porpbory, 
conftitute  the  oideft  part  of  the  globe,  fince  the  lime-ftone,  {hells,  coralloids, 
and  other  fea  productions,  reft  upon  them;  and  upon  thefe  fea  productions 
are  found  clay,  iron,  coal,  fait,  and  filiceous  fand,  or  grit-ftone.  Thus  there 
feem  to  be  three  divifions  of  the  globe  diftinclly  marked  :  the  firft  I  fuppofe 
to  have  been  the  original  nucleus  of  the  earth,  or  lava  projected  from  the 
fun;  2.  over  this  lie  the  recrements  of  animal  and  vegetable  matter  pro- 
duced in  the  ocean;  and,  3.  over  thefe  the  recrements  of  animal  and  vege- 
table matter  produced  upon  the  land.  Befides  thefe  there  are  bodies  which 
owe  their  origin  to  a  combination  of  thofe  already  mentioned,  as  filiceous 
fand,  fluor,  alabafter,  which  feem  to  have  derived  their  acids  orginally  from 
the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  their  earthy  bafes  from  fea  productions.  See 
additional  notes,  No.  XVI.  on  calcareous  earth. 

Ra'jfed  her  Primeval  I/lands.  1.  36.     The  nucleus  of  the  earth,  ftill  covered 


CANTO  II.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  39 

Stretch 'd  her  wide  lawns,  and  funk  her  winding  dells, 
And  deck'd  her  fliores  with  corals,  pearls,  and  {hells. 

"  O'er  thofe  bleft  ifles  no  ice-crown'd  mountains  tower'd, 
No  lightnings  darted,  and  no  tempefts  lower'd;  40 

Soft  fell  the  vefper-drops,  condenfed  below, 
Or  bent  in  air  the  rain-refra&ed  how ; 
Sweet  breathed  the  zephyrs,  juft  perceiv'd  and  loft ; 
And  brinelefs  billows  only  kifs'd  the  coaft ; 
Round  the  bright  zodiac  danc'd  the  vernal,  hours,  45 

And  Peace,  the  Cherub,  dwelt  in  mortal  bowers ! 

"  So  young  DIONE,  nurfed  beneath  the  waves, 
And  rock'd  by  Nereids  in  their  coral  caves, 
Charm'd  the  blue  fifterhood  with  playful  wiles, 
Lifp'd  her  fweet  tones,  and  tried  her  tender  fmiles.  50 


with  water,  received  perpetual  increafe  by  the  immenfe  quantities  of  fhells 
and  coralloids  either  annually  produced  and  relinquifhed,  or  left  after  the 
death  of  the  animals.  Thefe  would  gradually,  by  their  different  degrees  of 
cohefion,  be,fome  of  them  more  and  others  lefs,  removeable,  by  the  influence 
of  folar  tides,  and  gentle  tropical  breezes,  which  then  muft  have  probably 
extended  from  one  pole  to  .the  other;  for  it  is  fuppofed  the  moon  was  not 
yet  produced,  and  that  no  ftorms,  or  unequal  winds,  had  yet  exiftence. 

Hence,  then,  the  primeval  iflands  had  their  gradual  origin,  were  raifed 
but  a  few  feet  above  the  level  of  the  fea,  and  were  not  expofed  to  the  great 
or  fudden  variations  of  heat  and  cold,  as  is  fo  well  explained  in  Mr. 
Whitehurft's  Theory  of  the  Earth,  chap.  xvi.  Whence  the  paradife  of  the 
facred  writers,  and  the  golden  age  of  the  profane  ones,  feems  to  have  had  a 
real  exiftence.  As  there  can  be  no  rainbow,  when  the  heavens  are  covered 
with  clouds,  becaufe  the  fun-beams  are  then  precluded  from  falling  upon  the 
rain-drops  oppoiite  to  the  eye  of  the  fpedtator,  the  rainbow  is  a  mark  of 
gentle  or  partial  fhowcrs.  Mr.  Whitehurft  has  endeavoured  to  fliow,  that 
the  primitive  iflands  were  only  moiftened  by  nodurnal  dews,  and  not  by 
fhowers,  as  occurs  at  this  day  to  the  Delta  of  Egypt ;  and  is  thence  of  opi- 
nion, that  the  rainbow  had  no  exiftence  till  after  the  production  of  moun- 
tains and  continents.  As  the  fait  of  the  fea  has  been  gradually  accumulat- 
ing, being  wafhed  down  into  it  from  the  recrements  of  animal  and  vege- 
table bodies,  the  fea  muft  originally  have  been  as  freih  as  river  water ;  and 
as  it  is  not  yet  faturated  with  fait,  mufl  become  annually  more  faline.  See 
note  on  1.  117  of  this  Canto. 

So  young  Dicne.  1.  47.  There  is  an  ancient  gem  reprefenting  Venus 
rifing  out  of  the  ocean,  fupported  by  two  Tritons.  From  the  formality 
of  the  defign,  it  would  appear  to  be  of  great  antiquity,  before  the  intro- 
duction of  fine  tafte  into  the  world.  It  is  probable,  that  this  beautiful 
allegory  was  originally  an  hieroglyphic  piclure  (before  the  invention  of  let- 
ters) deicriptive  of  the  formation  of  the  earth  from  the  ocean,  which  fcenvs 
to  have  been  an  opinion  of  many  of  the  moft  ancient  philofophers. 


40  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I, 

Then,  on  her  beryl  throne,  by  Tritons  borne, 

Bright  rofe  the  Godclefs  like  the  Star  of  morn ; 

When  with  foft  fires  the  milky  dawn  He  leads, 

And  wakes  to  life  and  love  the  laughing  meads ; — 

With  rofy  fingers,  as  uncurPd  they  hung  55 

Round  her  fair  brow,  her  golden  locks  (he  wrung ; 

O'er  the  fmooth  furge  on  filver  fandals  flood, 

And  look'd  enchant menc  on  the  dazzled  flood. — 

The  bright  drops  rolling  from  her  lifted  arms, 

In  flow  meanders  wander  o'er  her  charms,  60 

Seek  round  her  fnowy  neck  their  lucid  track, 

Pearl  her  white  (boulders,  gem  her  ivory  back, 

Round  her  fine  waift  and  fwelling  bofom  fwim, 

And  ftar  with  glittering  brine  each  cryftal  limb. — 

• — The  immortal  form  enamour'd  Nature  hail'd,  65 

And  Beauty  blazed  to  heaven  and  earth,  unveil'd. 

III.  "  You!  who  then,  kindling  after  many  an  age, 
Saw,  with  new  fires,  the  firft  volcano  rage, 

Tbejirjl  -volcano.  1.  68.  As  the  earth,  before  the  exiftence  of  earthquakes, 
was  nearly  level,  and  the  greateft  part  of  it  covered  with  fea;  when  the 
firft  great  fires  began  deep  in  the  internal  parts  of  it,  thofc  parts  would 
become  much  expanded;  this  expansion  would  be  gradually  extended,  as  the 
heat  increafed,  through  the  whole  terraqueous  globe  of  •;  ooo  miles  diame- 
ter ;  the  cruft  would  thence,  in  many  places,  open  into  fiffures,  which,  by 
•admitting  the  fea  to  flow  in  upon  the  fire,  would  produce  not  only  a  quan- 
tity of  fleam  beyond  calculation,  by  its  expanfion,  but  would  alfo,  by  its  de- 
compofition,  produce  inflammable  air  and  vital  air  in  quantities  beyond  con- 
ception, fufficient  to  effect  thofe  violent  explofions,  the  veftiges  of  which,  all 
over  the  world,  excite  our  admiration  and  our  ftudy.  The  difficulty  of  un- 
derftanding  how  fubterraneous  fires  could  exift  without  the  prefence  of  air, 
has  difappeared  fmce  Dr.  Prieflley's  difcoveries  of  fuch  great  quantities  of 
pure  air,  which  conftitute  all  the  acids,  and,  confequently,  exift  in  all  faline 
bodies,  as  fea-falt,  nitre,  lime-ftone,  and  in  all  calciform  ores,  as  manganefe, 
calamy,  ochre,  and  other  mineral  fubftances.  See  an  ingenious  treatife,  by 
Mr.  Michel,  on  earthquakes,  in  the  Philof.  Tranf. 

In  thtfe  firft  tremendous  ignitions  of  the  globe,  as  the  continents  were 
heaved  up,  the  jailies,  which  now  hold  the  fea,  were  formed  by  the  earth, 
fubfiding  into  the  cavities  made  by  the  rifing  mountains,  as  the  fteam  which 
railed  them  condenfed;  which  would  thence  not  have  any  caveins  of  great 
extent  remain  beneath  them,  as  fome  philofophers  have  imagined.  The 
earthquakes  of  modern  days  are  of  very  fmall  extent  indeed,  compared  to 
thofe  of  ancient  times,  and  are  ingenioufly  compared,  by  M.  De  Luc,  to 
the  o.perations  of  a  mob-hill,  where,  from  a  fmall  cavity,  are  raifed,  from 
time  to  time,  fmall  quantities  of  lava,  or  pumice-ftone.  Monthly  Review, 
June,  1790. 


CANTO  II.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  41 

O'er  faiouldcring  heaps  of  livid  fulphur  fwcll 

At  Earth's  firm  centre,  and  diftend  her  {hell,  70 

Saw,  at  each  opening  cleft,  the  furnace  glow, 

And  feas  rufli  headlong  on  the  gulphs  below. 

Gnomes  !  how  you  fhriek'd,  when  through  the  troubled  air 

Roar'd  the  fierce  din  of  elemental  war ; 

When  rofe  the  continents,  and  funk  the  main,  75 

And  Earth's  huge  fphere,  exploding,  burft  in  twain. 

Gnomes  !  how  you  gazed,  when  from  her  wounded  fide, 

Where  now  the  South- Sea  heaves  its  wafte  of  tide, 

Rofe  on  fwift  wheels  the  MOON'S  refulgent  car, 

Circling  the  folar  orb,  a  lifter  flar,  80 

Dimpled  with  vales,  with  fliining  hills  embofs'cl, 

And  rolTd  round  earth  her  airlefs  realms  of  froft. 

*;  Gnomes  !  how  you  trembled,  with  the  dreadful  force, 
When  Earth,  recoiling,  ftagger'd  from  her  courfe; 


The  Moon's  refulgent  cat;.  1.  79.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XV.  on  folar 
volcanos. 

Her  altlcfs  realms  of  frojl.  1.  82.  If  the  moon  had  no  atmofphere  at  the 
time  of  its  elevation  from  the  earth,  or  if  its  atmofphere  was  afterwards 
ftolen  from  it  by  the  earth's  attraction,  the  water  on  the  moon  would  rife 
quickly  into  vapour,  and  the  cold  produced  by  a  certain  quantity  of  this 
evaporation,  would  congeal  the  remainder  of  it.  Hence  it  is  not  probable 
that  the  moon  is  at  prefent  inhabited,  but,  as  it  feems  to  have  fuffered,  and 
to  continue  to  fuffer  much  by  volcanos,  a  fufficient  quantity  of  air  may,  in 
procefs  of  time,  be  generated  to  produce  an  atmofphere,  which  may  prevent 
its  heat  from  fo  eafily  efcaping,  and  its  water  from  fo  eafily  evaporating,  and 
thence  become  fit  for  the  production  of  vegetables  and  animals. 

That  the  moon  pofleffes  little  or  no  atmofphere,  is  deduced  from  the  un- 
diminifiied  luftre  of  the  flars,  at  the  inftant  when  they  emerge  from  be- 
hind her  diflc.  That  the  ocean  of  the  moon  is  frozen,  is  confirmed  from 
there  being  no  appearance  of  lunar  tides,  which,  if  they  cxiiled,  would 
cover-  the  part  of  her  dilk  neareft  the  earth.  See  note  on  Canto  III. 
1.  61. 

When  Earthy  recoiling.  I.  84.  On  fuppofition  that  the  moon  was  thrown 
from  the  earth  by  the  explofion  of  water,  or  the  generation  of  other  vapours 
oi  greater  power,  the  remaining  part  of  the  globe  would  recede  from  its 
orbit  in  one  direction  as  the  moon  receded  in  another,  and  that  in  propor- 
tion to  the  refpective  momentum  of  each,  and  would  afterwards  revolve 
round  their  common  centre  of  gravity. 

If  the  moon  rofe  from  any  part  of  the  earth  except  exactly  at  the  line  or 
poles,  the  {hock  would  tend  to  turn  the  axis  of  the  earth  out  of  its  previ- 
ous direction.  And  as  a  mafs  of  matter  rifing  from  deep  parts  of  the  globe 
would  have  previoufly  acquired  lefs  diurnal  velocity  than  the  earth's  furface, 
-from  whence  it  rofe,  it  v/ould  receive,  during  the  time  of  its  rifiug,  addi- 

PART  I.  G 


42  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I, 

When,  as  her  Line  in  flower  circles  fpun,  85 

And  her  fhock'd  axis  nodded  from  the  fun, 

With  dreadful  march  the  accumulated  main 

Swept  her  vaft  wrecks  of  mountain,  vale,  and  plain ; 

And,  while  new  tides  their  (liouting  floods  unite, 

And  hail  their  Queen,  fair  Regent  of  the  night,  90 

Chain'd  to  one  centre,  whirl'd  the  kindred  fpheres, 

And  mark'd  with  lunar  cycles  folar  years. 

IV.   "  Gnomes!  you  then  bade  diflblving  Shell*  diftil 
From  the  loofe  fummits  of  each  fhatter'd  hill, 
To  each  tine  pore  and  dark  inteiftice  flow,  95 

And  fill  with  liquid  chalk  the  mafs  below. 
Whence  fparry  forms  in  dufky  caverns  gleam 
With  borrow'd  light,  and  twice  refract  the  beamj 
While  in  white  beds  congealing  rocks  beneath 
Court  the  nice  chifiel,  and  defire  to  breathe. —  100 

tional  velocity  from  the  earth's  furface,  and  would,  confequently,  fo  much 
retard  the  motion  of  the  earth  round  its  axis. 

When  the  earth  thus  receded,  the  fhock  would  overturn  all  its  buildings 
and  forefts,  and  the  water  would  rum,  with  inconceivable  violence,  over  its 
furface,  towards  the  new  fatellite,  from  two  caufes,  both  by  its  not  at  firft 
acquiring  the  velocity  with  which  the  earth  receded,  and  by  the  attraction 
of  the  new  moon,  as  it  leaves  the  earth:  on  thefe  accounts,  at  firft,  there 
would  be  but  one  tide  till  the  moon  receded  to  a  greater  diftance,  and  the 
earth,  moving  round  a  common  centre  of  gravity  between  them,  the  water 
on  the  fide  fartheft  from  the  moon  would  acquire  a  centrifugal  force,  in 
refpetSt  to  this  common  centre,  between  itfelf  and  the  moon. 

Diflolving  Jbells  dijlil.  1.  93.  The  lime-ftone  rocks  have  had  their  origin 
from  fhells  formed  beneath  the  fea,  the  ibfter  ftrata  gradually  diflblving,  and 
filling  up  the  interftices  of  the  harder  ones;,  afterwards,  when  thefe  accu- 
mulations of  {hells  were  elevated  above  the  waters,  the  upper  ftrata  be- 
came diffolved  by  the  actions  of  the  air  and  dews,  and  filled  up  the  inter- 
fUces  beneath,  producing  fclid  rocks  of  different  kinds,  from  the  coarfe  lime- 
itones  to  the  fineft  marbles.  When  thofe  lime-ftones  have  been  in  fuch  a 
fituation  that  they  could  form  perfect  cryftals,  they  are  called  fpars,  fome  of 
which  poffefs  a  double  refraction,  as  obferved  by  Sir  Ifaac  Newton.  When 
thefe  cryftals  are  jumbled  together,  or  mixed  with  fome  colouring  impurities,, 
it  is  termed  marble,  if  its  texture  be  equable  and  firm;  if  its  texture  be  coarfe 
and  porous,  yet  hard,  it  is  called  limc-ftone ;  if  its  texture  be  very  loofe  and 
porous,  it  is  termed  chalk  In  fome  rocks  the  mells  remain  almoft  unchang- 
ed, and  only  covered,  or  bedded,  with  lime-ftone,  which  feems  to  have  been 
diffolved,  and  funk  down  amongft  them.  In  others  the  fofter  mells  and 
bones  are  diffolved,  and  only  fhark's  teeth,  or  harder  echini,  have  preferved 
thei  r  form,  inveloped  in  the  chalk  or  lime-ftone.  In  fome  marbles  the  folution 
has  been  complete,  and  no  vefliges  of  fhell  appear,  as  in  the  white  kind,  called 
ftatuary  by  the  workmen.  Sec  additional  notes,  No.  XVI. ' 


CANTO  II.   '  ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  43 

"  Hence  wearied  HERCULES  in  marble  rears 
His  languid  limbs,  and  refts  a  thoufand  years ; 
Still,  as  he  leans  {hall  young  ANTINOUS  pleafe 
With  carelefs  grace,  and  unaffected  eafe ; 
Onward,  with  loftier  ftep,  APOLLO  fpring,  105 

And  launch  the  unerring  arrow  from  the  firing ; 
In  Beauty's  bafhful  form,  the  veil  unfurPd, 
Ideal  VENUS  win  the  gazing  world. 
Hence,  on  ROUBILIAC'S  tomb  {hall  Fame  fublime 
Wave  her  triumphant  wings,  and  conquer  Time;  I IO 

Long  with  foft  touch  {hall  DAMER'S  chifiel  charm, 
With  grace  delight  us,  and  with  t>eauty  warm  ; 
FOSTER'S  fine  form  {hall  hearts  unborn  engage", 
And  MELBOURN'S  fmile  enchant  another  age. 

V.  "  Gnomes  !  you  then  taught  tranfuding  dews  to  pafs 
Through  time-fall'n  woods,  and  root-inwove  morafs         116 
Age  after  age;  and  with  filtration  fine 
Difpart,  from  earths  and  fulphurs,  the  faline. 

Hence  ivearied  Hercules.  1.  IOI.  Alluding  to  the  celebrated  Hercules  of 
Glyco  refting  after  his  labours;  and  to  the  eafy  attitude  of  Antinous;  the 
lofty  ftep  of  the  Apollo  of  Belvidere ;  and  the  retreating  modefty  of  the  Ve- 
nus de  Medici.  Many  of  the  defigns  of  Roubiliac,  in  Weftminfter  Abbey, 
are  uncommonly  poetical ;  the  allegory  of  Time  and  Fame  contending  for 
the'  trophy  of  General  Wade,  which  is  here  alluded  to,  is  beautifully  told; 
the  wings  of  Fame  are  ftill  expanded,  and  her  hair  ftill  floating  in  the  air; 
which  not  only  fhevvs  that  fhe  has  that  moment  arrived,  but  alfo  that  her 
force  is  not  yet  expended ;  at  the  fame  time  that  the  old  figure  of  Time, 
with  his  difordered  wings,  is  rather  leaning  backwards,  and  yielding  to 
her  impulfe,  and  muft  apparently,  in  another  inftant,  be  driven  from  his 
attack  upon  the  trophy. 

Fojlers  fine  form.  1,  113.  Alluding  to  the  beautiful  ftatues  of  Lady  Elizabeth 
Fofter,  and  of  Lady  Melbourn,  executed  by  the  honourable  Mrs.  Darner. 

Root-inwove  morafs.  1.  1 1 6.  The.  great  mafs  of  matter  which  refts  upon 
the  lime-ftone  ftrata  of  the  earth,  or  upon  the  granite,  where  the  lime-ftone 
ftratum  has  been  removed  by  earthquakes,  or  covered  by  lava,  hcis  had  its 
origin  from  the  recrements  of  vegetables  and  of  air-breathing  animals,  as  the 
lime-ftone  had  its  origin  from  fea  animals.  The  whole  habitable  world  was 
originally  covered  with  woods,  till  mankind  formed  themfeives  into  focie- 
ties,  and  fubdued  them  by  fire  and  by  fteel.  Hence  woods,  in  uncultivated 
countries,  have  grown  and  fallen  through  many  ages,  whence  mcraffes  of 
immenfe  extent;  and  from  thefe,  as  the  more  foluble  parts  were  wafhed 
away  firft,  were  produced  fea-falt,  nitre,  iron,  and  variety  of  acids,., which, 
combining  with  calcareous  matter,  were  productive  of  many  fcfiil  bodies,  as 
flint,  iea-fand,  felenite,  with  the  precious  ftones,  and  perhaps  the  diamond. 
See  additional  notes,  No.  XVTi. 


44  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

I.  "  Hence,  with  diffufive  Salt  old  Ocean  fteeps 
His, emerald  {hallows,  and  his  fapphire  deeps.  I2O 

Oft  in  wide  lakes,  around  their  warmer  brim, 
In  hollow  pyramids  the  cryftals  fwim ; 
Or,  fufed  by  earth-born  fires,  in  cubic  blocks 
Shoot  their  white  forms,  and  harden  into  rocks. 

"  Thus,  cavern'd  round  in  CRACOW'S  mighty  mines,   125 
With  cryftal  walls  a  gorgeous  city  fhines ; 
Scoop'd  in  the  briny  rock  long  ftreets  extend 
Their  hoary  courfe,  and  glittering  domes  afcend ; 


Hence,  •with  J/Jfiifive  Salt.  1.  119.  Salts  of  various  kinds  are  produced 
from  the  recrements  of  animal  and  vegetable  bodies,  fuch  as  phofphorir, 
ammoniacal,  marine  fait,  and  others;  thefe  are  waihed  from  the  earth  by 
rains,  and  carried  down  our  rivers  into  the  fea;  they  feem  all  here  to  de- 
compofe  each  other,  except  the  marine  fait,  which  has,  therefore,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  habitable  world,  been  perpetually  accumulating. 

There  is  a  town  in  the  immenfe  falt-mines  of  Cracow,  in  Poland,  with  a 
market-place,  a  river,  a  church,  and  a  famous  ftatue,  (here  fuppofed  to  be 
of  Lot's  wife)  by  the  moift  or  dry  appearance  of  which  the  fubterranean  in- 
habitants are  faid  to  know  when  the  weather  is  fair  above  ground.  The  gal- 
leries in  thefe  mines  are  fo  numerous  and  fo  intricate,  that  wotkmen  have 
frequently  loft  their  way,  their  lights  having  been  burnt  out,  and  have  pe- 
rifhed  before  they  could  be  found.  Effais,  &c.  par  M.  Macquart.  And 
though  the  arches  of  thefe  different  ftories  of  galleries  are  boldly  executed, 
yet  they  are  not  dangerous,  as  they  are  held  together,  or  fupported,  by  larg-c 
rnafies  of  timber  of  a  foot  fquare ;  and  thefe  vaft  timbers  remain  perfectly 
found  for  many  centuries,  while  all  other  pillars,  whether  of  brick,  cement, 
or  fait,  foon  diffolve,  or  moulder  away.  Ibid.  Could  the  timbers  over  wa- 
ter-mill wheels  or  cellars,  be  thus  preferved  by  occafionally  foaking  them 
•with  brine?  Thefe  immenfe  maffes  of  rock-falt  feem  to  have  been  pro- 
duced by  the  evaporation  of  fea-water,  in  the  early  periods  of  the  world, 
by  fubterranean  fires.  Dr.  Hutton's  Theory  of  the  Earth.  See  alfo  Theo- 
rie  des  Sources  Salees,  par  M.  Struve.  Hiiloire  de  Sciences  de  Laufanne, 
Tom.  II.  This  idea  of  Dr.  Hutton's  is  confirmed  by  a  facft  mentioned  in 
M.  Macquart's  Effais  fur  Mineralogie,  who  found  a  great  quantity  of  foffil 
ihells,  principally  bi-valves  and  madre-poree,  in  the  falt-mines  of  Wialiczka, 
near  Cr*cow.  During  the  evaporation  of  the  lakes  of  falt-water,  as  in  ar- 
tificial lalt-works,  the  fait  begins  to  cryftallize  near  the  edge,  where  the 
water  is  fhalloweft,  forming  hollow  inverted  pyramids,  which,  when  they 
become  of  a  certain  lize,  fubfide  by  their  gravity;  if  urged  by  a  ftronger 
fire,  the  fait  fufes,  or  forms  large  cubes;  whence  the  fait  fhaped  in  hollow 
pyramids,  called  fiake-falt,  is  better  tailed,  and  preferves  flefii  better,  than 
the  baiket  or  powder  fait;  becaufe  it  is  made  by  lefs  heat,  and  thence  con- 
tains more  of  the  marine  acid.  The  fea-water  about  oi:r  ifhnd  contains 
from  about  one  twenty-eighth  to  one  thirtieth  part  of  fea-fnlt,  and  about  one 
eightieth  of  magneiian  fait.  See  Brownrigg  on  Suit.  So-:  note  on  0;}- 
ij  vol.  II.  of  this  work. 


CANTO  II.      ECONOiMY  OF  VEGETATION.  45 

Down  the  bright  fteeps,  emerging  into  day, 

Impetuous  fountains  burft  their  headlong  way,  130 

O'er  milk-white  vales  in  ivory  channels  fpread, 

And  wandering,  feek  their  fubterraneous  bed. 

Form'd  in  pellucid  fait,  with  chiiTel  nice, 

The  pale  lamp  glimmering  through  the  fculptured  ice, 

With  wild  reverted  eyes  fair  LOTTA  ftands,  135 

And  fpreads  to  Heaven,  in  vain,  her  glafly  hands ; 

Cold  dews  condenfe  upon  her  pearly  breaft, 

And  the  big  tear  rolls  lucid  down  her  veft. 

Far  gleaming  o'er  the  town  tranfparent  fanes 

Rear  their  white  towers,  and  wave  their  golden  vanes;     140 

Long  lines  of  luftres  pour  their  trembling  rays, 

And  the  bright  vault  returns  the  mingled  blaze. 

2.  "  Hence  orient  Nitre  owes  its  fparkling  birth, 
And  with  prifmatic  cryftals  gems  the  earth, 


Hence  orient  Nitre.  1.  143.  Nitre  is  found  in  Bengal  naturally  cryftallizcd, 
and  is  fvvept  by  brooms  from  earths  and  ftones,  and  thence  called  fweep- 
ings  of  nitre.  It  has  lately  been  found,  in  large  quantities,  in  a  natural  ba- 
fon  of  calcareous  earth  at  Molfetta,  in  Italy,  both  in  thin  ftrata  between  the 
calcareous  beds,  and  in  efflorefcences  of  various  beautiful  leafy  and  hairy  forms. 
An  account  of  this  nitre-bed  is  given  by  Mr.  Zimmerman,  and  abridged  in 
Rozier's  Journal  de  Phyfique,  Fevrier,  1790.  This  acid  appears  to  be  pro- 
duced in  all  fituations  where  animal  and  vegetable  matters  are  completely 
decompofed,  and  which  are  expofed  to  the  action  of  the  air,  as  on  the  walls 
of  ftables  and  flaughter-houfes;  the  cryftals  are  prifms  furrowed  by  longi- 
tudinal grooves. 

Dr.  Prieftley  difcovered,  that  nitrous  air  or  gas,  which  he  obtained  by  dif- 
folving  metals  in  nitrous  acid,  would  combine  rapidly  with  vital  air,  and 
produce  with  it  a  true  nitrous  acid,  forming  red  clouds  during  the  combina- 
tion; the  two  airs  occupy  only  the  fpace  before  occupied  by  one  of  them, 
and,  at  the  fame  time,  heat  is  given  out  from  the  new  combination.  This 
diminution  of  the  bulk  of  a  mixture  of  nitrous  gas  and  vital  air,  Dr.  Prieft- 
ley ingenioufty  ufed  as  a  teft  of  the  purity  of  the  latter;  a  difcovery  of  the 
greateft  importance  in  the  analyfis  of  airs. 

Mr.  Cavendifli  has  fince  demonftrated,  that  two  parts  of  vital  air,  or  oxy- 
gene,  and  one  part  of  phlogiftic  air,  or  azote,  being  long  expofed  to  ele&ric 
ihocks,  unite,  and  produce  nitrous  acid.  Philof.  Tranf.  vols.  LXXV.  and 
LXXVITI. 

Azote  is  one  of  the  moft  abundant  elements  in  nature,  and,  combined 
with  calorique,  or  heat,  it  forms  azotic  gas,  or  phlogiftic  air,  and  compofes 
two  thirds  of  the  atmofphere,  and  is  one  of  the  principal  component  parts 
of  animal  bodies,  and,  when  united  to  vital  air,  or  osygenc,  produces  the 
nitrous  acid.  Mr.  Lavoifier  found  that  21}  parts,  by  weight,  oi'  azote,  and 
43 ;  parts  of  oxygene,  produced  64  parts  of  nitrous  gas  ;  and,  by  the  further 


46  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

OTer  tottering  domes  in  filmy  foliage  crawls,  145 

Or  frofts  with  branching  plumes  the  mouldering  walls. 

As  woos  Azotic  Gas  the  virgin  Air, 

And  veils  in  crimfon  clouds  the  yielding  Fair ; 

Indignant  Fire  the  treacherous  courtfhip  flies, 

Waves  I\is  light  wing,  and  minglqs  with  the  ikies.  150 

"So  Beauty's  Goddcjs^  warm  w?ith  new  defire, 
Left,  on  her  filver  wheels,  the  GOD  of  Fire; 
Her  faithlefs  charms  to  fiercer  MARS  refign'd, 
Met  with  fond  lips,  with  wanton  arms  intwin'd. 
—Indignant  VULCAN  eyed  the  parting  Fair,  155 

And  watch'd,  with  jealous  ilep,  the  guilty  pair; 
O'er  his  broad  neck  a  wiry  net  he  flung, 
Quick  as  he  ftrode,  the  tinkling  mefhes  rung; 
Fine  as  the  fpider's  flimfy  thread  He  wove 
The  immortal  toil  to  lime  illicit  love;  160 

Steel  were  the  knots,  and  fleel  the  twitted  thong, 
Ring  linkM  in  ring,  indiffolubly  flrong; 
On  viewlefs  hooks,  along  the  fretted  roof, 
He  hung,  unfeen,  the  inextricable  woof. — 
—Quick  flart  the  fprings,  the  webs  pellucid  fpread,  165 

And  lock  the  embracing  Lovers  on  their  bed ; 
Fierce  with  loud  taunts  vindi&ive  VULCAN  fprings, 
Tries  all  the  bolts,  and  tightens  all  the  firings, 
Shakes,  with  inceffant  (bouts,  the  bright  abodes, 
Claps  his  rude  hands,  and  calls  the  feftive  Gods. —  170 

. — With  fp reading  palms  the  alarmed  Goddefs  tries 
To  veil  her  beauties  from  celeftial  eyes, 
Writhes  her  fair  limbs,  the  {lender  ringlets  drains, 
And  bids  her  Loves  untie  the  obdurate  chains ; 
Soft  fwells  her  panting  bofom,  as  ilie  turns,  175 

And  her  flufh'd  cheek  with  brighter  bin  flies  burns. 
Majeftic  grief  the  Queen  of  Heaven  avows, 
And  chafte  Minerva  hides  her  helmed  brows ; 

addition  of  36  parts  of  oxygene,  nitrous  acid  was  produced.  Traitc  de  Chi- 
mie.  When  two  airs  become  united  fo  as  to  produce  an  unelaftic  liquid, 
much  caior;que,  or  heat,  is,  of  ncceffity,  expelled  from  the  new  combination, 
though,  perhaps,  nitrous  acid,  and  oxygenated  marine  acid,  adrcit  more  heat 
into  their  combinations  than  ether  acids. 


CANTO  II.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  47 

Attendant  Nymphs,  with  bafhful  eyes  afkance, 
Steal  of  intangled  MARS  a  transient  glance; 
Surrounding  Gods  the  circling  nectar  quaff,  ^ 
Gaze  on  the  Fair,  and  envy  as  they  laugh. 

3.  "  Hence  dufky  Iron  fleeps  in  dark  abodes, 
And  ferny  foliage  neflles  in  the  nodes ; 

Till  with  wide  lungs  the  panting  bellows  blow,  185 

And  waked  by  fire  the  glittering  torrents  flow ; 
— Quick  whirls  the  wheel,  the  ponderous  hammer  falls, 
Loud  anvils  ring  amid  the  trembling  walls, 
Strokes  follow  ftrokes,  ~the  fparkling  ingot  fliines, 
Flows  the  red  flag,  the  lengthening  bar  refines ;  190 

Cold  waves,  immerfed,  the  glowing  mafs  congeal, 
And  turn  to  adamant  the  biffing  Steel. 

Hence  dufky  Iron.  1.  183.  The  production  of  Iron  from  the  decoTnpofi- 
tion  of  vegetable  bodies,  is  perpetually  prefented  to  Our  view;  the  waters 
oozing  from  all  moraffes  are  chalybeate,  and  depofit  their  ochre  on  being 
expofed  to  the  air,  the  iron  acquiring  a  calciform  ftate  from  its  union  with 
oxygene,  or  vital  air.  When  thin  moraffes  lie  on  beds  of  gravel,  the  latter 
are  generally  ftained  by  the  filtration  of  fome  of  the  chalybeate  water  through 
them.  This  formation  of  iron  from  vegetable  recrements,  is  further  evinced 
by  the  fern  leaves,  and  other  parts  of  vegetables,  fo  frequently  found  in 
the  centre  of  the  knobs  or  nodules  of  fome  iron  ores. 

In  fome  of  thefe  nodules  there  is  a  nucleus  of  whiter  iron  earth,  fur- 
rounded  by  many  concentric  ftrata  of  darker  and  lighter  iron  earth  alter- 
nately. In  one,  which  now  lies  before  me,  the  nucleus  is  a  prifm  of  a  tri- 
angular form,  with  blunted  angles,  and  about  half  an  inch  high,  and  an  inch 
and  half  broad ;  on  every  fide  of  this  are  concentric  ftrata  of  fimilar  iron 
^arth,  alternately  browner  and  lefs  brown;  each  ilratum  is  about  a  tenth  of 
an  inch  in  thicknefs,  and  there  are  ten  o£  them  in  number.  To  what 
known  caufe  can  this  exactly  regular  diftribution  of  fo  many  earthy  ftiata 
of  different  colours,  furrounding  the  nucleus,  be  afcribed?  I  don't  know 
that  any  mineralogifts  have  attempted  an  explanation  of  this  wonderful  phe- 
nomenon. I  fufpect  it  is  owing  to  the  polarity  of  the  central  nucleus.  If 
iron-filings  be  regularly  laid  on  paper,  by  means  of  a  fmall  fieve,  and  a 
magnet  be  placed  underneath,  the  filings  will  tiifpcfe  themfelves  in  con- 
centric curves,  with  vacant  intervals  between  them.  Now,  if  thefe  iron- 
filings  are  conceived  to  be  fulpended  in  a  fluid,  whofe  ipecific  gravity  i* 
fimilar  to  their  own,  and  a  magnetic  bar  was  introduced  as  an  axis  into 
this  fluid,  it  is  eafy  to  forefee  that  the  iron-filings  would  difpofe  themfelves 
into  concentric  fpheres,  with  intervals  of  the  circumnatant  fluid  between 
them,  exadly  as  is  feen  in- thefe  nodules  of  iron  earth.  As  all  the  lavas 
conlilt  of  one  fourth  of  iron,  (Kirwan's  Mineral.)  and  almoft  all  other  known 
bodies,  whether  of  animal  or  vegetable  origin,  poiTefs  more  or  left  of  this  pro- 
perty, may  not  a  diftribution  of  a  great  portion  of  the  globe  of  the  earth,  into 
ftrata  of  greater  or  lefs  regularity,  be  owing  to  the  polarity  of  the  whole  ? 

And  turn  to  adamant.  1.  193.     The  circumftancc*  which  render  iron  more 


* 

48  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!, 

"  Lad  MICHEL'S  hands,   with  touch  of  potent  charm, 
The  polifti'd  rods  with  powers  magnetic  arm; 
With  points  directed  to  the  polar  ftars,  ,  195 

In  one  long  line  extend  the  temper'd  bars; 

valuable  to  mankind  than  any  other  metal,  are,  I.  Its  property  of  being 
rendered  hard  to  fo  great  a  degree,  and  thus  conftituting  fuch  excellent 
tools  It  was  the  difcovery  of  this  property  of  iron,  Mr.  Locke  thinks,  that 
gave  fuch  pre-eminence  to  the  European  world  over  the  American  one. 

2.  Its  power  of  being  welded ;  that  is,  when  two  pieces  are  made  very  hot, 
and  applied  together  by  hammering,  they  unite  completely,  unlefs  any  fcale 
of  iron  intervenes ;  and  to  prevent  this  it  is  ufual  for  fmiths  to  dip  the  very 
hot  bar  in  fand,  a   little  of  which  fufes  into  fluid  glafs  with  the  fcale,  and 
is  fqueezed  out  from  between  the  uniting  parts  by  the  force  of  hammering. 

3.  Its  power  of  acquiring  magnetifm. 

It  is,  however,  to  be  wifhed,  that  gold  or  filver  were  difcovered  in  as 
great  quantity  as  iron,  fince  thefe  metals,  being  indeftruclible  by  expofure  to 
air,  water,  fire,  or  any  common  acids,  would  fupply  wholefome  veffels  for 
cookery,  fo  much  to  be  defired,  and  fo  difficult  to  obtain,  and  would  form 
the  moft  light  and  durable  coverings  for  houfes,  as  well  as  indeftru&ible  fire- 
grates, ovens,  and  boiling  veffels.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XVIII.  on 
Steel. 

Lajl  Michc-rs  lands.  1.  193.  The  difcovery  of  the  magnet  feems  to  have 
been  in  very  early  times ;  it  is  mentioned  by  Plato,  Lucretius,  Pliny,  and 
Galen,  and  is  faid  to  have  taken  its  name  of  magnes,  from  Magnefia,  a  fea- 
port  of  ancient  Lybia. 

As  every  piece  of  iron  which  was  made  magnetical  by  the  touch  of  a  mag- 
net, became  itfelf  a  magnet,  many  attempts  were  made  to  improve  thele 
artificial  magnets,  but  without  much  fuccefs,  till  Servingdon  Savery,  Efq. 
made  them  of  bnrdentd  fleel  bars,  which  were  fo  powerful,  that  one  of  them, 
weighing  three  pounds  averdupois,  would  lift  another  of  the  fame  weight. 
Philof.  Tranf. 

After  this  Dr.  Knight  made  very  fucccfsful  experiments  on  this  fubjedi, 
which,  though  he  kept  his  method  fecret,  feems  to  have  excited  others  to 
turn  their  attention  to  magnetifm.  At  this  time  the  Rev.  Air.  Michel  in- 
vented an  equally  efficacious  and  more  expeditious  way  of  making  ftrong  ar- 
tificial magnets,  which  he  publifhed  in  the  end  of  the  year  1750,  in  which 
he  explained  his  method  of  what  he  called  "  the  double  touch,"  and  which, 
fincc  Dr.  Knight's  method  has  been  known,  appears  to  be  fomewhat  dif- 
ferent from  it. 

This  method  of  rendering  bars  of  hardened  fteel  magnetical,  coniifts  in 
holding  vertically  two  or  more  magnetic  bars  nearly  parallel  to  each  other, 
with  their  oppofite  poles  very  near  each  other,  (but  neverthelefs  feparated  to 
a  fmall  diftance,)  thefe  are  to  be  fiided  over  a  line  of  bars,  laid  horizontally, 
u  few  times  backward  and  forward.  See  Michel  on  Magnetifm,  alfo  a  de- 
tailed account  in  Chambers'  Dictionary. 

What  Mr.  Michel  propofed  by  this  method  was,  to  include  a  very  fmall 
portion  of  the  horizontal  bars  intended  to  be  made  magnetical,  between  the 
joint  forces  of  two  or  more  bars  already  magnetical,  and,  by  Hiding  them 
from  end  to  end,  every  part  of  the  line  of  bars  became  fucceffively  included, 
and  thus  bars,  poffeffed  of  a  very  fmall  degree  of  magnetifm  to  begin  with, 
would,  in  a  few  times  Hiding  backwards  and  forwards,  make  the  other  ones 
aiuch  more  magnetical  than  themfelves,  which  -are  then  to  be  taken  uj* 


CANTO  II.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  4? 

Then  thrice  and  thrice  with  fteady  eye  he  guides, 

And  o'er  the  adhefive  train  the  magnet  flides ; 

The  obedient  Steel  with  living  inftinft  moves, 

And  veers  for  ever  to  the  pole  it  loves.  2OO 

"  Hail,  adamantine  Steel!  magnetic  Lord! 
King  of  the  prow,  the  plowfhare,  and  the  fword ! 
True  to  the  pole,  by  thee  the  pilot  guides 
His  fteady  helm  amid  the  ftruggling  tides, 
Braves  with  broad  fail  the  immeafurable  fea,  2O£ 

Cleaves  the  dark  air,  and  afks  no  ftar  but  Thee.— 
By  thee  the  plowfhare  rends  the  matted  plain, 
Inhumes  in  level  rows  the  living  grain; 
Intrulive  forefls  quit  the  cultured  ground, 
And  Ceres  laughs  with  golden  fillets  crown'd. —  210 

O'er  reftlefs  realms  when  fcowling  Difcord  flings 
Her  fnakes,  and  loud  the  din  of  battle  rings ; 
Expiring  Strength,  and  vanquifh'd  Courage  feel 
Thy  arm  refifHefs,  adamantine  Steel ! 

4.  "  Hence  in  fine  ftreams  diffufive  Acids  flow,  215 

Or  wing'd  with  fire  o'er  Earth's  fair  bofom  blow ; 


and  ufed  to  touch  the  former,  which  are  in  fuccefilon  to  be  laid  down  ho- 
rjzontally  in  a  line. 

There  is  ftill  a  great  field  remains  for  future  difcoveries  in  magnetifm, 
both  in  refpecT:  to  experiment  and  theory ;  the  latter  coniifls  of  vague  con- 
jectures, the  more  probable  of  which  are,  perhaps,  thofe  of  Epinus,  as 
they  aflimilate  it  to  electricity. 

One  conjecture  I  fhall  add,  viz.  that  the  polarity  of  magnetifm  may  be 
owing  to  the  earth's  rotatory  motion.  If  heat,  electricity,  and  magnetifm, 
ate  fuppofed  to  be  fluids  of  different  gravities,  heat  being  the  heavieft  of 
them,  electricity  the  next  heavy,  and  magnetifm  the  lighteft,  it  is  evident, 
that  by  the  quick  revolution  of  the  earth,  the  heat  will  be  accumulated 
moft  over  the  line,  electricity  next  beneath  this,  and  that  the  magnetifm 
will  be  detruded  to  the  poles  and  axis  of  the  earth,  like  the  atmofpheres  of 
common  air  and  inflammable  gas,  as  explained  in  the  note  on  Canto  I.  1.  123. 

Electricity  and  heat  will  both  of  them  difplace  magnetifm,  and  this  fhews 
that  they  may  gravitate  on  each  other;  and  hence,  when  too  great  a  quan- 
tity of  the  eledtric  fluid  becomes  accumulated  at  the  poles  by  defcending 
fnows,  or  other  unknown  caufes,  it  may  have  a  tendency  to  rife  towards 
the  tropics  by  its  centrifugal  force,  and  produce  the  northern  lights.  See 
additional  notes,  No.  I. 

Dijfitfive  Acids  f.oiu.  1.  415.  The  production  of  marine  acid  from  de- 
«on;pofmg  vegetable  and  animal  matters,  with  vital  air,  and  of  nitrous  acid 
1'ART.  1,  H 


$o  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Tranfmute  to  glittering  Flints  her  chalky  lands, 

Or  fink  on  Ocean's  bed  in  countlefs  Sands. 

Hence  filvery  Selenite  her  cryftal  moulds, 

And  foft  Afbeftus  fmooths  his  filky  fold*;  220 

His  cubic  forms  phofphoric  Fluor  prints, 

Or  rays  in  fpheres  his  amethyftine  tints. 

Soft  cobweb  clouds  tranfparent  Onyx  fpreads, 

And  playful  Agates  weave  their  coloured  threads ; 

Gay  pi&ured  Mochoes  glow  with  landfcape-dyes,  225 

And  changeful  Opals  roll  their  lucid  eyes ; 

Blue  lambent  light  around  the  Sapphire  plays, 

Bright  Rubies  biulh,  and  living  Diamonds  blaze. 

from  azote  and  vital  air,  the  former  of  which  is  united  to  its  bads  by  means 
of  the  exhalations  from  vegetable  and  animal  matters,  conftitute  an  analogy 
which  induces  us  to  believe,  that  many  other  acids  have  either  their  bafes, 
or  are  united  to  vital  air  by  means  of  fome  part  of  decompofing  vegetable 
and  animal  matters. 

The  great  quantities  of  flittt-fand,  whether  formed  in  mountains  or  in  the 
fea,  would  appear  to  derive  its  acid  from  the  new  world,  as  it  is  found  above 
the  ftrata  of  lime-ftone  and  granite  which  conftitute  the  old  world,  and,  a» 
the  earthy  baCs  of  flint  is  probably  calcareous,  a  great  part  of  it  feems  to  be 
produced  by  a  conjunction  of  the  new  and  old  world.  The  recrements  of 
air-breathing  animals  and  vegetables  probably  afford  the  acid,  and  the  (hells 
of  marine  animals  the  earthy  bafis,  while  another  part  may  have  derived 
its  calcareous  part  alfo  from  the  decompofition  of  vegetable  and  animal  bo- 
dies. 

The  feme  mode  of  reafomng  feems  applicable  to  the  filiceous  ftones  under 
'various  names,  as  amethyft,  onyx,  agate,  mocho,  opal,  &c.  which  do  not 
leem  to  have  undergone  any  procefs  from  volcanic  6  res,  and  as  theft  ftones 
only  differ  from  flint  by  a  greater  or  lefs  admixture  of  argillaceous'«and  cal- 
careous earths.  The  different  proportions  of  which,  in  each  kind  of  ftone, 
may  be  feen  in  Mr.  Kirwan's  valuable  Elements  of  Mineralogy.  See  addi- 
tional notes,  No.  XIX. 

Living  diamonJt  Llaze.  \.  22$.  Sir  Ifaac  Newton  having  obferved  the 
great  power  of  refracting  light,  which  the  diamond  poffeffes  above  all  other 
cryftaliized  or  vitreous  matter,  conjectured  that  it  was  an  inflammable  body 
in  fome  manner  congealed.  Infomuch  that  all  the  light  is  reflected  which 
falls  on  any  of  its  interior  furfaces  at  a  greater  angle  of  incidence  than  24  \ 
degrees;  whereas  an  artificial  gem  of  gkfs  does  not  reflect  any  light  from 
its  hinder  furface,  unlefs  that  furface  is  inclined  in  an  angle  of  41  decrees. 
Hence,  the  diamond  reflects  half  as  much  more  light  as  a  factitious  gem  in 
fimilar  circumftances;  to  which  muft  be  added  its  great  tranfparency,  and 
the  excellent  polHh  it  is  capable  of.  The  diamond  had  nevertheless  been 
placed  at  the  head  of  cryftals  or  precious  ftones  by  the  mineralogifts,  till 
Bergman  ranged  it  of  late  in  the  combuftible  clafs  of  bodies,  becaufe,  by  the 
focus  of  Villette's  burning  mirror,  it  was  evaporated  by  a  heat  not  much 
greater  than  will  melt  filver,  and  gave  out  light.  Mr.  Hoepfner,  however, 
thinks  the  difperfkm  of  the  diamond  by  this  great  heat,  fhould  be  called  a 
phofphorefcent  evaporation  of  it,  rather  than  a  cornbuftio:) ;.  and  from  iti 


CANTO  II.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  51 

"  Thus,  for  attractive  earth,  inconftant  JOVE, 
Maik'd  in  new  fhapes,  forfook  his  realms  above. —  230 

Firfr,  her  fvveet  eyes  his  Eagle-form  beguiles, 
And  HEBE  feeds  him  with  ambrolial  fmiles; 
Next  the  chang'd  God  a  Cygnet's  down  affhmes, 
And  playful  LED  A  fmooihs  his  glofly  plumes  ; 
Then  glides  a  filver  ferpent,  treacherous  gueft  !  235 

And  fair  OLYMPIA  folds  him  in  her  bread; 
Now  lows  a  milk-white  Bull  on  Afric's  flrand, 
And  crops  with  dancing  head  the  daify'd  land. — 
With  rofy  wreathes  EURO  PA'S  hand  adorns 
His  fringed  forehead,  and  his  pearly  horns ;  240 

Light  on  his  back  the  fpoi  live  Damfel  bounds, 
And  pleafed  he  moves  along  the  flowery  grounds ; 
Bears  with  flow  ftep  his  beauteous  prize  aloof, 
Dips  in  the  lucid  flood  his  ivory  hoof; 

Then  wets  his  velvet  knees,  and  wading  laves  245 

His  filky  fides  amid  the  dimpling  waves. 
While  her  fond  train  with  beckoning  hands  deplore, 
Strain  their  blue  eyes,  and  ihriek  along  the  fliore; 
Beneath  her  robe  fhe  draws  her  fnowy  feet, 
And,  half-reclining  on  her  ermine  feat,  250 

Round  his  raifed  neck  her  radiant  arms  (he  throws, 
And  refts  her  fair  cheek  on  his  curled  brows; 
Her  yellow  trefles  wave  on  wanton  gales,  ,  *' 

And  bent  in  air  her  azure  mantle  fails. 


other  analogies  of  cryftallization,  hardnefs,  tranfparency,  and  place  of  its  na- 
tivity, wifhes  again  to  replace  it  amongft  the  precious  ftones.  Obferv.  fur.  la 
Phyfique,  par  Rozier,  Tom.  XXXV.  p.  448.  See  new  edition  of  the  tranf- 
lation  of  Cronftedt,  by  De  Cofta. 

Inconfant  Jove.  I.  229.  The  purer  air,  or  ether,  in  the  ancient  mytho- 
logy, was  reprefented  by  Jupiter,  and  the  inferior  air  by  Juno;  and  the 
conjunction  of  thefc  deities  was  faid  to  produce  the  vernal  fhowers,  and  pro- 
create all  things,  as  is  further  fpoken  of  in  Canto  III.  1.  204.  It  is  now  dif- 
covered,  that  pure  air,  or  oxygene,  uniting  with  variety  of  bafes,  forms  the 
various  kinds  of  acids;  as  the  vitriolic  acid  from  pure  air  and  fulphur;  the 
nitrous  acid  from  pure  air  and  phlogiftic  air,  or  azote;  and  carbonic  acid, 
(or  fixed  air,)  from  pure  air  and  charcoal.  Some  of  thefe  affinities  were, 
perhaps,  pourtrayed  by  the  Magi  of  Egypt,  who  were  probably  learned  in 
chemiftry,  in  their  hieroglyphic  pictures  before  the  invention  of  letters,  by 
the  loves  of  Jupiter  with  terreflrial  ladies.  And  thus  phyfically  as  well  as 
metaphyfically  might  be  faid,  "  Jovis  omnui  plena." 


&  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

>  —  Onward  He  moves,  applauding  Cupids  guide,  255 

And  fkim  on  mooting  wing  the  ihining  tide  ; 

Emerging  Tritons  leave  their  coral  caves, 

iSound  their  loud  conchs,  and  fmooth  the  circling  waves, 

Surround  the  timorous  Beauty,  as  me  fwims, 

And  gaze  enamour'd  on  her  filver  limbs.  260 

Mow  Europe's  fliadowy  iliores,  with  loud  acclaim, 

Hail  the  fair  fugitive,  and  fhout  her  name  ; 

Soft  echoes  warhle,  whifpering  forefts  nod, 

And  confcious  Nature  owns  the  prefent  God. 

Changed  from  the  Bull,  the  rapturous  God  affumes  265 

Immortal  youth,  with  glow  celeftial  blooms, 

With  lenient  words  her  virgin  fears  difarms, 

And  clafps  the  yielding  Beauty  in  his  arms  ; 

Whence  Kings  and  Heroes  own  illufhious  birth, 

Guards  of  mankind,  and  demigods  on  earth.  270 

VI.  "  Gnomes  !  as  you  pafs'd  beneath  the  labouring  foil, 
The  guards  and  guides  of  Nature's  chemic  toil, 
You  faw,  deep-fepulchred  in  dufky  realms, 
Which  Earth's  rock-ribbed  ponderous  vault  o'erwhelms, 
With  felf-born  fires  the  mafs  fermenting  glow,  275 

ilame-wing'd  fulphurs  quit  the  earths  below. 


I.  f*  Hence  ductile  Clays  in  wide  expanfion  fpread, 
Soft  as  the  Cygnet's  down,  their  mow-white  bed; 
With  yielding  flakes  fucceflive  forms  reveal, 
And  change  obedient  to  the  whirling  wheel.  •»  280 

Firft  CHINA'S  fons,  with  early  art  elate, 
Form'd  the  gay  tea-pot,  and  the  pictured  plate  ; 


With  felf-born  f 'res.  1.  275.  After  the  accumulation  of  plains  and  moun- 
tains on  tjhe  calcareous  rocks,  or  granite,  which  had  been  previously  raifed 
by  volcanic  fires,  3  fecond  fet  of  volcanic  fires  were  produced  by  the  fer- 
mentation of  -this  neiv  mafs,  which,  after  the  falts,  or  acids,  and  iron, 
had  been  wafhed  away  in  part  by  elutriation,  diflipated  the  fulphurous  parts, 
•which  were  infoluble  in  water;  whence  argillaceous  and  filiceons  earths 
were  left  in  fome  places;  in  others,  bitumen  became  fublimcd  to  the  upper 
part  of  the  ftratum,  producing  coals  of  various  degrees  of  purity. 

Hence  duftile  clays.  1.  277.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XX. 


CANTO  II.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  53 

Saw  with  illumin'd  brow  and  dazzled  eyes 

In  the  red  ftove  vitrefcent  colours  rife ; 

Speck'd  her  tall  beakers  with  enamePd  ftars,  285 

Her  monfter-joffes,  and  gigantic  jars ; 

Smear'd  her  huge  dragons  with  metallic  hues, 

With  golden  purples,  and  cobaltic  blues; 

Bade  on  wide  hills  her  porcelain  caftles  glare, 

And  glazed  Pagodas  tremble  in  the  air.  290 

"  ETRURIA  !  next  beneath  thy  magic  hands 
Glides  the  quick  wheel,  the  plaftic  clay  expands, 
Nerved  with  fine  touch,  thy  fingers  (as  it  turns) 
Mark  the  nice  bounds  of  vafes,  ewers,  and  urnsj 
Round  each  fair  form  in  lines  immortal  trace  295 

Uncopied  Beauty,  and  ideal  Grace. 

"  Gnomes  !  as  you  now  diflecl:  with  hammers  fine 
The  granite-rock,  the  nodul'd  flint  calcine ; 
Grind  with  ftrong  arm,  the  circling  chertz  betwixt, 
Your  pure  Ka-o-lins  and  Pe-tun-tfes  mixt;  300 


Saiv  tv'itl}  illumind  broiu.  1.  283.  No  colour  is  diftinguifhable  in  the  red- 
hot  kiln  but  the  red  itfelf,  till  the  workman  introduces  a  fmall  piece  of  dry 
wood,  which,  by  producing  a  white  flame,  renders  all  the  other  cplours  vi- 
fible  in  a  moment. 

With  golden  purples.  1.  388.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXI, 

Etrurla !  next.  \.  191.  Etruria  may,  perhaps,  vie  with  China  itfelf  in 
the  antiquity  of  its  arts.  The  times  of  its  greateft  fplendour  were  prior  to 
the  foundations  of  Rome,  and  the  reign  of  one  of  its  beft  princes,  Janus, 
was  the  oldeft  epoch  the  Romans  knew.  The  earlieft  hiftorians  fpeak  of 
the  Etrufcans  as  being  then  of  high  antiquity,  moft  probably  a  colony  from 
Phoenicia,  to  which  a  Pelafgian  colony  acceded,  and  was  united  foon  after 
Deucalion's  flood.  The  peculiar  character  of  their  earthen  vafes  confifts 
in  the  admirable  beauty,  fimplicity,  and  diverfity  of  forms,  which  continue 
the  beft  models  of  tafte  to  the  artifts  of  the  prefent  times;  and  in  a  fpecies 
of  non-vitreous  encauftic  painting,  which  was  reckoned,  even  in  the  time  of 
Pliny,  among  the  loft  arts  of  antiquity,  but  which  has  lately  been  recovered 
by  the  ingenuity  and  induftry  of  Mr.  Wedgwood.  It  is  fuppofed  that  the 
principal  manufactories  were  about  Nola,  at  the  foot  of  Vefuvius,  for  it  is 
in  that  neighbourhood  that  the  greateft  quantities  of  antique  vafes  have 
been  found;  and  it  is  faid  that  the  general  tafte  of  the  inhabitants  is  appa- 
rently influenced  by  them,  infomuch  that  ftrangers,  coming  to  Naples,  are, 
commonly  ftruck  with  the  diverfity  and  elegance,  even  of  the  moft  ordinary 
vafes,  for  cammon  ufes.  See  D'Hanjcarville's  preliminary  difcourfes  to  the 
magnificent  colie&km  of  Etrufcan  vafes,  publifhed  by  Sir  William  Hamilton. 


54  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

O'er  each  red  faggar's  burning  cave  prefide, 

The  keen-eyed  Fire-Nymphs  blazing  by  your  fide ; 

And  pleafed  on  WEDGWOOD  ray  your  partial  fmile, 

A  new  Etruria  decks  Britannia's  ifle. — 

Charm'd  by  your  touch,  the  flint  liquefcent  pours  305 

Through  finer  fieves,  and  falls  in  whiter  (liowers ; 

Charm'd  by  your  touch,  the  kneaded  clay  refines, 

The  bifcuit  hardens,  the.enamel  fhines ; 

Each  nicer  mould  a  fofter  feature  drinks, 

The  bold  Cameo  fpeaks,  the  foft  Intaglio  thinks.  310 

"  To  call  the  pearly  drops  from  Pity's  eye, 
Or  ftay  Defpair's  difanimating  figh, 
Whether,  O  Friend  of  Art !  the  gem  you  mould 
Rich  with  new  tafte,  with  ancient  virtue  bold ; 
Form  the'poor  fetter'd  Slave,  on  bended  knee,  315 

From  Britain's  fons  imploring  to  be  free ; 
Or  with  fair  HOPE  the  brightening  fcenes  improve, 
And  cheer  the  dreary  waftes  at  Sydney-Cove ; 
Or  bid  Mortality  rejoice  and  mourn 
O'er  the  fine  forms  on  PORTLAND'S  myftic  urn. —         32® 

'"'  ~»  # 
"  Here,  by  fali'n  columns  and  disjoin'd  arcades, 

On  mouldering  ftones,  beneath  deciduous  (hades, 

Sits  HUMANKIND  in  hieroglyphic  flate, 

Serious,  and  pondering  on  their  changeful  ftate; 

While  with  inverted  torch,  and  fwimming  eyes,  325 

Sinks  the  fair  (hade  of  Mortal  Life,  and  dies. 

There  the  pale  Ghoft  through  Death's  wide  portal  bends 

His  timid  feet,  the  dufky  fteep  defcends ; 


Form  tie  foor  fetter'd  Slave.  1.  315.  Alluding  to  two  cameos  of  Mr. 
Wedgwood's  manufacture;  one  of  a  Slave  in  chains,  of  which  he  diftributed 
many  hundreds,  to  excite  the  humane  to  attend  to  and  to  aflift  in  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  deteftable  traffic  in  human  creatures ;  and  the  other  a  cameo  of 
Hope  attended  by  Peace,  and  Art,  and  Labour;  which  was  made  of  clay 
from  Botany-Bay;  to  which  place  he  fent  many  of  them,  to  fliew  the  inha- 
bitants what  their  materials  would  do,  and  to  encourage  their  induftry.  A 
print  of  this  latter  medallion  is  prefixed  to  Mr.  Stockdale's  edition  of  Phi- 
lips' Expedition  to  Botany-Bay,  with  ibme  verfes  which  are  inferted  at  the 
end  of  the  additional  notes. 

Portland's  myjlic  urn.  1.  330.     See  additional  notes,  N 


».* 


• 


opied  Srt>rn  £ty>t.ffiit/'ft   1  fvw  to  Botany  .B 


Cop 


C  A* TO  II.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  55 

With  (miles  afTuafive  Love  Divine  invites, 

Guides  on  broad  wing,  with  torch  uplifted  lights ;  330 

Immortal  Life^  her  hand  extending,  courts 

The  lingering  form,  his  tottering  ftep  fupports; 

Leads  on  to  Pluto's  realms  the  dreary  way, 

And  gives  him  trembling  to  Elyfian  day. 

Beneath,  in  facred  robes  the  PRIESTESS  drefs'd,  335' 

The  coif  clofe-hooded,  and  the  fluttering  veft, 

With  pointing  ringer  guides  the  initiate  youth, 

Unweaves  the  many-colour'd  veil  of  Truth, 

Drives  the  profane  from  M^ftery's  bolted  door, 

And  Silence  guards  the  Eleufmian  lore. —  „  340 

"  Whether,  O  Friend  of  Art !  your  gems  derive 
Fine  forms  from  Greece,  and  fabled  Gods  revive ; 
Or  bid  from  modern  life  the  Portrait  breathe, 
And  bind  round  Honour's  brow  the  laurel  wreath; 
Buoyant  fliall  fail,  with  Fame's  hiftoric  page,  345 

Each  fair  medallion  o'er  the  wrecks  of  age; 
Nor  Time  /hall  mar ;  nor  Steel,  nor  Fire,  nor  Ruft 
Touch  the  hard  polifti  of  the  immortal  buft. 

« 

2.   "  Hence  fable  COAL  his  mafTy  couch  extends, 
And  ftars  of  gold  the  fparkling  Pyrite  blends ;  350 

Hence  dull-eyed  Naphtha  pours  his  pitchy  ftreams, 
And  Jet  uncolour'd  drinks  the  folar  beams, 
Bright  Amber  {nines  on  his  electric  throne, 
And  adds  ethereal  luftres  to  his  own. 


fine  forms  from  Greece.  \.  342.  Jn  real  ftones,  or  in  pafte  or  foft  coloured 
glafs,  many  pieces  of  exquiiite  workman fhip  were  produced  by  the  ancients. 
Baffo-relievos  of  various  fizes,  were  made  in  coarfe  brown  earth  of  one 
colour;  but  of  the  improved  kind  of  two  or  more  colours,  and  of  a  true 
porcelain  texture,  none  were  made  by  the  ancients,  ncr  attempted  I  believe 
by  the  moderns,  before  thofe  of  Mr.  Wedgwood's  manufactory. 

Hence  fable  Ccal.  1.  349.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXIII.  on  coal. 

Bright  Amber  JbJnes.  1.  353.  Coal  has  probably  all  been  fublimed  more 
or  lefs  from  the  clay,  with  which  it  was  at  nrft  formed  in  decompofing  mo- 
raffes;  the  petroleum  feems  to  have  been  feparated,  and  condenfed  again  in 
iuperior  ftrata,  and  a  ftill  finer  kind  of  oil,  as  naphtha,  has  probably  had  the 
fame  origin.  Some  of  thefe  liquid  oils  have  again  loft  their  more  volatile 
parts,  and  become  cannel-coul,  afphaltum,  jet,  and  amber,  according  to  the 


ja  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  i, 

— Led  by  the  phofphor-light,  with  daring  tread  355 

Immortal  FRANKLIN  fought  the  fiery  bed; 

Where,  nurfed  in  night,  incumbent  Tempeft  fhrouds 

His  embryon  Thunders  in  circumfluent  clouds, 

Befieged  with  iron  points  their  airy  cell, 

And  pierced  the  monPcers  il  umbering  in  the  fliell.  360 

"  So,  borne  ori  founding  pinions  to  the  Weft, 
When  Tyrant-Power  had  built  his  eagle  neft; 
While  from  his  eyry  ihriek'd  the  famifh'd  brood, 
Clenched  their  {harp  claws,  and  champ'd  their  beaks  for  blood, 
Immortal  FRANKLIN  watch'd  the  callow  crew,  365 

And  ftabb'd  the  ftruggling  Vampires,  ere  they  flew. 
— The  patriot-flame  with  quick  contagion  ran, 
Hill  lighted  hillj  and  man  electrifed  man  • 
Her  heroes  flain,  awhile  COLUMBIA  mourn'd* 
And,  crown'd  with  laurels,  LIBERTY  return'd*  370 

"  The  Warrior,  LIBERTY,  with  bending  fails, 
Helm'd  his  bold  courfe  to  fair  HIBERNIANS  vales ; — 
Firm  as  he  fteps  along  the  fhouting  lands, 
Lo  !   Truth  and  Virtue  range  their  radiant  bands; 
Sad  Superftition  wails  her  empire  torn,  375 

Art  plies  his  oar,  and  Commerce  pours  her  horn. 

"  Long  had  the  Giant-form,  on  GALLIA'S  plains, 
Inglorious  flept,  unconfcious  of  his  chains ; 
Round  his  large  limbs  were  wound  a  thoufand  filings 
By  the  weak  hands  of  Confeflfors  and  Kings ;  380 

O'er  his  clofed  eyes  a  triple  veil  was  bound, 
And  fteely  rivets  lock'd  him  to  the  ground ; 


purity  of  the  original  foflil  oil.  Dr.  Priefrley  has  fliewn,  that  effential  oils, 
long  expofed  to  the  atmofphere,  abforb  both  the  vital  and  phlogiftic  part  of 
it;  whence,  it  is  probable,  their  becoming  folid  may  in  great  meaiure  depend, 
as  well  as  by  the  exhalation  of  their  more  volatile  parts.  On  diftillation  Math 
volatile  alcali  all  thefe  foffil  oils  are  (hewn  to  contain  the  acid  of  amber, 
which  evinces  the  identity  of  their  origin.  If  a  piece  of  amber  be  rubbed  it 
attracts  ftraws  and  hairs,  whence  the  difcovery  of  eleclricity,  and  whence 
its  name,  from  electron,  the  Greek  word  for  amber. 

Immortal  Franklin.  1.  356.  See  note  on  Canto  I.  1.  383. 


CANTO  II.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION,  57 

While  ftern  Baftile  with  iron  cage  inthralls 

His  folded  limbs,  and  hems  in  marble  walls. 

— Touch'd  by  the  patriot-flame,  he  rent,  amazed,  385 

The  flimfy  bonds,  and  round  and  round  him  gazed ; 

Starts  up  from  earth,  above  the  admiring  throng 

Lifts  his  ColofTal  form,. and  towers  along; 

High  o'er  his  foes  his  hundred  arms  He  rears, 

Plowfhares  his  fwords,  and  pruning-hooks  his  fpears ;       390 

Calls  to  the  Good  and  Brave  with  voice,  that  rolls 

Like  Heaven's  own  thunder  round  the  echoing  poles ; 

Gives  to  the  winds  his  banner  broad  unfurl'd, 

And  gathers  in  its  (hade  the  living  world .' 

VII.  "  Gnomes  !  you  then  taught  volcanic  airs  to  force 
Through  bubbling  Lavas  their  reiiftlefs  courfe,  396 

O'er  the  broad  walls  of  rifted  Granite  climb, 
And  pierce  the  rent  roof  of  incumbent  Lime; 


While  Jlcrn  Bajllle.  \.  383.  f\  We  defcended  with  great  difficulty  into  the 
dungeons,  which  were  made  too  low  for  our  (landing  upright ;  and  were  fo 
dark,  that  we  were  obliged  at  noon-day  to  vifit  them  by  the  light  of  a  can- 
dle. We  faw  the  hooks  of  thofe  chains  by  which  the  prifoners  were  fattened 
by  their  necks  to  the  walls  of  their  cells ;  many  of  which,  being  below  the 
level  of  the  water,  were  in  a  conftant  ftate  of  humidity,  from  which  iffued 
a  noxious  vapour,  which  more  than  once  extinguifhed  the  candles.  Since 
the  deftrudiion  of  the  building,  many  fubterraneous  cells  have  been  difco- 
vered  under  a  piece  of  ground,  which  feemed  only  a  bank  of  folid  earth, 
before  the  horrid  fecrets  of  this  prifon-houfe  were  difclofed.  Some  Ikele- 
tons  were  found  in  thefe  recefles,  with  irons  Hill  fattened  to  their  decayed 
bones,"  Letters  from  France,  by  H.  M.  Williams,  p.  24. 

And  pierce  the  rent  roof.  1.  398.  The  granite  rocks  and  the  lime-ftone 
rocks  have  been  cracked  to  very  great  depths  at  the  time  they  were  raifed 
up  by  fubterranean  fires ;  in  thefe  cracks  are  found  moft  of  the  metallic  ores, 
except  iron,  and  perhaps  manganefe ;  the  former  of  which  is  generally  found 
in  horizontal  ftrata,  and  the  latter  generally  near  the  furface  of  the  earth. 

Philofophers  poflefiing  fo  convenient  a  teft  for  the  difcovery  of  iron  by 
the  magnet,  have  long  fmce  found  it  in  all  vegetable  and  animal  matters; 
and  of  late  Mr.  Scheele  has  difcovered  the  exiftence  of  manganefe  in  vege- 
table aflies.  Scheele,  56  mem.  Stock.  1774.  Kirwan.  Min.  353.  Which, 
accounts  for  the  production  of  it  near  the  furface  of  the  earth,  and  thence 
for  its  calciform  appearance,  or  union  with  vital  air.  Bergman  has  like- 
wife  Ihewn,  that  the  lune-ftones  which  become  bluifh,  or  dark  coloured,  when 
calcined,  pofifcfs  a  mixture  of  manganefe,  and  are  thence  preferable,  as  a 
cement,  to  other  kinds  of  lime.  2  Bergman,  229.  Which  impregnation  with 
manganefe  has  probably  been  received  from  the  decompolition  of  fuperin- 
cumbent  vegetable  matters. 

Thefe  cracks,  or  perpendicular  caverns,  in  the  granite  or  lime-ftone,  pafs 

PART  I.  I 


59  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Round  fparry  caves  metallic  luftres  fling, 

And  bear  'Phlogifton  on  their  tepid  wing.  400 

"  Hence  glow,  refulgent  Tin !  thy  cryftal  grains, 
And  tawny  Copper  {hoots  her  azure  veins  j 
Zink  lines  his  fretted  vault  with  fable  ore, 
And  dull  Galena  tafTellates  the  floor; 

On  vermil  beds  in  Idria's  mighty  caves  405 

The  living  Silver  rolls  its  ponderous  waves  j 
With  gay  refractions  bright  Platina  fhines, 
And  fluds  with  fquander'd  ftars  his  dufky  mines  j 


to  mnknown  depths;  and  it  is  up  thcfe  channels  that  I  have  endeavoured  t« 
fhew,  that  the  fteam  rifes,  which  becomes  afterwards  condenfed,  and  pro* 
diiccs  the  warm  fprings  of  this  iflaricl,  and  other  parts  of  the  world.  (See 
note  on  Fucus,  vol.  II.)  And  up  thefe  cracks  I  fuppofe  certain  vapours  arife, 
which  either  alone,  or  by  meeting  with  fomething  defcending  into  them 
from  above,  have  produced  moft  of  the  metals,  and  feveral  of  the  materials 
in  which  they  are  bedded.  Thus  the  ponderous  earth,  Barytes,  of  Derby- 
fhire,  is  found  in  thefe  cracks,  and  is  ftratified  frequently  with  lead-ore,  and 
frequently  furrounds  it.  This  ponderous  earth  has  been  found  by  t)r. 
Hoepfner  in  a  granite  in  Switzerland,  and  may  have  thus  been  fublimed 
from  immenfe  depths  by  great  heat,  and  have  obtained  its  carbonic  or  vi- 
triolic acid  from  above.  Annales  de  Chimie.  There  is  alfo  reafon  to  con- 
clude, that  fomething  from  above  is  neceffary  to  the  formation  of  many  of 
the  metals.  At  Hawkftone,  in  Shropfhire,  the  feat  of  Sir  Richard  Hill, 
there  is  an  elevated  rock  of  filiceous  fand,  which  is  coloured  green  with 
copper  in  many  places  high  in  the  air;  and  I  have  in  my  poffeflion  a  fpeci- 
men  of  lead  formed  in  the  cavity  of  an  iron  nodule,  and  another  of  lead 
amid  fpar  from  a  crack  of  a  coal-ftratum ;  all  which  countenance  the  mo- 
dern production  of  thofe  metals  from  defcending  materials.  To  which 
fhould  be  added,  that  the  highefl  mountains  of  granite,  which  have,  there- 
fore, probably  never  been  covered  with  marine  productions,  on  account  of 
their  early  elevation,  nor  with  vegetable  or  animal  matters,  on  account  of 
their-  great  coldnefs,  contain  no  metallic  ores,  whilft  the  lower  ones  contain 
copper  and  tin  in  their  cracks  or  veins,  both  in  Saxony,  Silefia,  and  Cornwall. 
Kirwan's  Mineral,  p.  374. 

The  tranfmutation  of  one  metal  into  another,  though  hitherto  undifco- 
vertd  by  the  alchymifts,  does  not  appear  impoffible;  fuch  tranfmutations 
have  been  fuppofed  to  exift  in  nature;  thus  lapis  calaminaris  may  have  been 
produced  from  the  deitruction  of  lead-ore,  as  it  is  generally  found  on  the 
top  of  the  veins  of  lead,  where  it  has  been  calcined,  or  united  with  air,  and 
becaufe  maffes  of  lead-ore  are  often  found  intirely  inclofed  in  it.  So  lilver 
is  found  mixed  in  almoft  all  lead-ores,  and  fometimes  in  feparate  filaments 
within  the  cavities  of  lead-ore,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Michel,  and  is 
thence  probably  a  partial  tranfmutarion  of  the  lead  to  filver,  the  rapid  pro- 
grefs  of  modern  chefniftry  having  {hewn  the  analogy  between  metallic  cal- 
ces and  acids,  may  lead  to  the  power  of  tranfmuting  their  bafes;  a  difco- 
very  much  to  be  wifhed. 


CANTO  II.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  59 

Long  threads  of  netted  gold,  and  filvery  darts, 

Inlay  the  Lazuli,  and  pierce  the  Quartz ; —  410 

— Whence  roof'd  with  filver  beam'd  PERU,  of  old, 

And  haplefs  MEXICO  was  paved  with  gold. 

"  Heavens !  on  my  fight  what  fanguine  colours  blaze  ! 
Spain's  deathlefe  fhame  !  the  crimes  of  modern  days  ! 
When  Avarice,  fhrouded  in  Religion's  robe,  415 

Sail'd  to  the  Weft,  and  flaughter'd  half  the  globe; 
While  Superftition,  ftalking  by  his  fide, 
Mock'd  the  loud  groan,  and  lap'd  the  bloody  tide ; 
For  facred  truths  announced  her  frenzied  dreams, 
And  turn'd  to  night  the  fun's  meridian  beams. —  420 

Hear,  Oh  BRITANNIA  !  potent  Queen  of  ifles, 
On  whom  fair  Art,  and  meek  Religion  (miles, 
Now  AF RIG'S  coafts  thy  craftier  fons  invade, 
And  Theft  and  Murder  take  the  garb  of  Trade  ! 
— The  Slave,  in  chains,  on  fupplicating  knee,  425 

Spreads  his  wide  arms,  and  lifts  his  eyes  to  Thee ; 
With  hunger  pale,  with  wounds  and  toil  opprefs'd, 
"  Are  we  not  Brethren?"  forrow  choaks  the  reft; 
— Air  !  bear  to  heaven  upon  thy  azure  flood 
Their  innocent  cries  ! — -Earth  /  cover  not  their  blood !     430 

VIII.  "  When  Heaven's  dread  juftice  fmites  in  crimes  o'er- 

grpwn 

The  blood -nurfed  Tyrant  on  his  purple  throne, 
Gnomes  !  your  bold  forms  unnumber'd  arms  outftretch, 
And  urge  the  vengeance  o'er  the  guilty  wretch. — 
Thus  when  CAMBYSES  led  his  barbarous  hofts  435 

From  Perlia's  rocks  to  Egypt's  trembling  coafts, 
Defiled  each  hallowed  fane,  and  facred  wood, 
And,  drunk  with  fury,  fwell'd  the  Nile  with  blood ; 


Thus  when  Camlyfes.  1.  435,  Cambyfes  marched  one  army  from  Thebes, 
after  having  overturned  the  temples,  ravaged  the  country,  and  deluged  it. 
with  blood,  to  fubdue  Ethiopia:  this  army  almoft  perifhed  by  famine,  hifo- 
«nuch,  that  they  repeatedly  flew  every  tenth  man  to  fupply  the  remainder 
•with  food.  He  fent  another  army  to  plunder  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Am- 
mon,  which  perifhed,  overwhelmed  with  fand. 


60  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Waved  his  proud  banner  o'er  the  Theban  ftates, 

And  pour'd  deftrudtion  through  her  hundred  gates;  440 

In  dread  divifions  march'd  the  marflial'd  bands, 

And  fwarming  armies  blacken'd  all  the  lands, 

By  Memphis  thefe  to  ETHIOP'S  fultry  plains, 

And  thofe  to  HAMMON'S  fand-incircled  fanes. — 

Slow  as  they  pafs'd,  the  indignant  temples  frown'd,  445 

Low  curfes  muttering  from  the  vaulted  ground ; 

Long  ailes  of  Cypiefs  waved  their  deepen'd  glooms, 

And  quivering  fpeclres  grinn'd  amid  the  tombs, 

Prophetic  whifpers  breathed  from  SPHINX'S  tongue, 

And  MEMNON'S  lyre  with  hollow  murmurs  rung;  450 

Burfl  from  each  pyramid  expiring  groans, 

And  darker  fliadows  ftretch'd  their  lengthen'd  cones. 

Day  after  day  their  dreadful  rout  They  fteer, 

Lufl  in  the  van,  and  Rapine  in  the  rear. 

"  Gnomes  !  as  they  march'd,   You  hid  the  gather'd  fruits, 
The  bladed  grafs,  fweet  grains,  and  mealy  roots ;  456 

Scared  the  tired  quails,  that  journey'd  o'er  their  heads, 
Retain'd  the  locufts  in  their  earthy  beds ; 
Bade  on  your  fands  no  night-born  dews  diftil, 
Stay'd  with  vindictive  hands  the  fcanty  rill. —  460 

Loud  o'er  the  camp  the  Fiend  of  Famine  fhrieks, 
Calls  all  her  brood,  and  champs  her  hundred  beaks ; 
O'er  ten  fquare  leagues  her  pennons  broad  expand, 
And  twilight  fwims  upon  the  (Ruddering  fand  ; 
Perch'd  on  her  crefl  the  Griffin  Difcord  clings,  465 

And  Giant  Murder  rides  between  her  wings ; 
Blood  from  each  clotted  hair,  and  horny  quill, 
And  fhowers  of  tears  in  blended  ftreams  diftil ; 


Expiring  groans.  1.  4JI.  Mr.  Savery,  or  Mr.  Volney,  in  his  travels 
through  Egypt,  has  given  a  curious  defcription  of  one  of  the  pyramids,  with 
the  operoic  method  of  clofmg  them,  and  immuring  the  hody  (as  they  fup- 
poied)  for  fix  thoufand  years.  And  has  endeavoured  irom  thence  to  fhcw, 
that  when  a  monarch  died,  feveral  of  his  favourite  courtiers  were  incloftd 
alive  with  the  mummy  in  thefe  great  maffes  of  ftone-work;  and  had  food 
and  water  conveyed  to  them,  as  long  as  they  lived,  proper  apertures  heirtg 
left  for  this  purpofe,  and  for  the  admiffion  cf  air,  and  for  the  exclufion  of 
any  thing  offensive. 


CANTO  II.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  6r 

High-poifed  in  air  her  fpiry  neck  {he  bends, 

Rolls  her  keen  eye,  her  dragon-ckws  extends,  470 

Darts  from  above,  and  tears  at  each  fell  fwoop 

With  iron  fangs  the  decimated  troop. 

"  Now  o'er  their  heads  the  whizzing  whirlwinds  breathe, 
And  the  live  defert  pants,  and  heaves  beneath ; 
Tinged  by  the  crimfon  fun,  vaft  columns  rife  475 

Of  eddying  fands,  and  war  amid  the  fkies, 
In  red  arcades  the  billowy  plain  fun  ound, 
And  whirling  turrets  ftalk  along  the  ground. 


And  whirling  turrets.  1.  478.  "  At  one  o'clock  we  alighted  among  fome 
acacia  trees,  at  Waadi  el  Halboub,  having  gone  twenty-one  miles.  We  were 
here  at  once  furprifed  and  terrified  by  a  fight  furely  one  of  the  moil  magni*- 
ficent  in  the  world.  In  that  vaft  expanfe  of  defert,  from  W.  to  N.  W.  of 
us,  we  faw  a  number  of  prodigious  pillars  of  fand,  at  different  diftances,  at 
times  moving  with  great  celerity,  at  others  ftalking  on  with  a  majeftic  flow- 
nefs;  at  intervals  we  thought  they  were  coming  in  a  very  few  minutes  to 
overwhelm  us;  and  fmall  quantities  of  fand  did  actually  more  than  once 
reach  us.  Again  they  would  retreat  fo  as  to  be  almoft  out  of  fight,  their 
tops  reaching  to  the  very  clouds.  There  the  tops  often  feparated  from  the 
bodies,  and  thefe,  once  disjoined,  difperfed  in  the  air,  and  did  not  appear 
more.  Sometimes  they  were  broken  in  the  middle,  as  if  ftruck  with  large 
cannon-fhot.  About  noon  they  began  to  .advance  with  confiderable  fwift- 
nefs  upon  us,  the  wind  being  very  ftrong  at  north.  Eleven  of  them  ranged 
along  fide  of  us  about  the  diftance  of  three  miles.  The  greateft  diameter 
of  the  largeft  appeared  to  me,  at  that  diftance,  as  if  it  would  meafure  ten 
feet.  They  retired  from  us  with  a  wind  at  S.  E.  leaving  an  impreflion  upon 
my  mind  to  which  I  can  give  no  name,  though  furely  one  ingredient  in  it 
was  fear,  with  a  confiderable  deal  of  wonder  and  aftoniihment.  It  was  in 
vain  to  think  of  flying;  the  fwifteft  horfe,  or  fafteft  failing  fliip,  could  be  of 
no  ufe  to  carry  us  out  of  this  danger;  and  the  full  perfuafion  of  this  riveted 
me  as  if  to  the  fpot  where  I  flood. 

"  The  fame  appearance  of  moving  pillars  of  fand  prefented  themfelves  to 
us  this  day  in  form  and  difpofition  like  thofe  we  had  feen  at  Waad  Hal- 
boub,  only  they  feemed  to  be  more  in  number  and  lefs  in  fize.  They  came 
feveral  times  in  a  direction  clofe  upon  us,  that  is,  I  believe,  within  lefs  than 
two  miles.  They  began  immediately  after  fun-rife  like  a  thick  wood,  and 
almoft  darkened  the  fun.  His  rays  fhining  through  them  for  near  an  hour, 
gave  them  an  appearance  of  pillars  of  fire.  Our  people  now  became  defpe- 
rate;  the  Greeks  fhrieked  out,  and  faid  it  was  the  day  of  judgment}  Ifmael 
pronounced  it  to  be  hell ;  and  the  Turcorories,  that  the  world  was  on  fire." 
Bruce's  Travels,  vol.  IV.  p.  553 — 555. 

From  this  account  it  would  appear,  that  the  eddies  of  wind  were  owing 
to  the  long  range  of  broken  rocks,  which  bounded  one  fide  of  the  fandy  de- 
fert, and  bent  the  currents  of  air,  which  ftruck  againft  their  fides;  and  were 
thus  like  the  eddies  in  a  ftream  of  water  which  falls  againft  oblique  obfta- 
cles.  This  explanation  is  probably  the  true  one,  as  thele  whirl-winds  were 
not  attended  with  rain  or  lightning  like  the  tornadoes  of  the  Weft-Indies. 


62  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

—Long  ranks  in  vain  their  {hining  blades  extend, 
To  Demon-Gods  their  knees  unhallow'd  bend,  480 

Wheel  in  wide  circle,  form  in  hollow  fquare, 
And  now  they  front,  and  now  they  fly  the  war, 
Pierce  the  deaf  temped  with  lamenting  cries, 
Prefs  their  parch'd  lips,  and  clofe  their  blood-fhot  eyes. 
— Gnomes  !  o'er  the  wafte  you  led  your  myriad  powers,    485 
Climb'd  on  the  whirls,  and  aim'd  the  flinty  fhowers ! — 
Onward  refiftlefs  rolls  the  infuriate  furge, 
Clouds  follow  clouds,  and  mountains  mountains  urge ; 
Wave  over  wave  the  driving  defert  fwims, 
Burfts  o'er  their  heads,  inhumes  their  ftruggling  limbs ;     490 
Man  mounts  on  man,  on  camels  camels  rum, 
Hofts  march  o'er  hofts,  and  nations  nations  crufh, — 
Wheeling  in  air  the  winged  iflands  fall, 
And  one  great  earthy  Ocean  covers  all ! — 
Then  ceafed  the  ftorm, — Night  bow'd  his  Ethiop  brow    495 
To  earth,  and  liflen'd  to  the  groans  below, — 
Grim  HORROR  fhook, — awhile  the  living  hill 
Heaved  with  convulfive  throes, — and  all  was  ftill ! 

IX.  "  Gnomes  !  whofe  fine  forms,  impaflive  as  the  air, 
Shrink  with  foft  fympathy  for  human  care ;  500 

Who  glide  unfeen,  on  printlefs  flippers  borne, 
Beneath  the  waving  grafs,  and  nodding  corn ; 
Or  lay  your  tiny  limbs,  when  noon-tide  warms, 
Where  (riadowy  cowilips  ftretch  their  golden  arms, — 
So  mark'd  on  orreries  in  lucid  figns,  505 

Star'd  with  bright  points  the  mimic  zodiac  fhines ; 
Borne  on  fine  wires  amid  the  pictured  fkies 
With  ivory  orbs  the  planets  fet  and  rife : 
Round  the  dwarf  earth  the  pearly  moon  is  roll'd, 
And  the  fun  twinkling  whirls  his  rays  of  gold. —  510 

Call  your  bright  myriads,  march  your  mailed  hods, 
With  fpears  and  helmets  glittering  round  the  coafts ; 


So  fnarU'd  on  orreries.  1.  505.  The  firft  orrery  was  conflru&cd  by  a  Mr. 
Rcwley,  a  mathematician  born  at  Lichfield,  and  fo  named  from  his  patron, 
the  Earl  of  Oirery.  Johnfon's  Didionary. 


CANTO  II.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  63 

Thick  as  the  hairs,  which  rear  the  Lion's  mane, 

Or  fringe  the  Boar,  that  bays  the  hunter-train ; 

Watch,  where  proud  Surges  break  their  treacherous  mounds, 

And  fweep  reiiftlefs  o'er  the  cultur'd  grounds;  516 

Such  as  ere  while,  impell'd  o'er  Belgia's  plain, 

Roll'd  her  rich  ruins  to  the  infatiate  Main ; 

With  piles  and  piers  the  ruffian  Waves  engage, 

And  bid  indignant  Ocean  ftay  his  rage.  520 

"  Where,  girt  with  clouds,  the  rifted  Mountain  yawns, 
And  chills  with  length  of  {hade  the  gelid  lawns, 
Climb  the  rude  fteeps,  the  granite-cliffs  furround, 
Pierce  with  fteel  points,  with  wooden  wedges  wound; 
Break  into  clays  the  foft  volcanic  flaggs,  525 

Or  melt  with  acid  airs  the  marble  craggs ; 
Crown  the  green  fummits  with  adventurous  flocks, 
And  charm  with  novel  flowers  the  wondering  Rocks. 
— So  when  proud  Rome  the  Afric  Warrior  braved, 
And  high  on  Alps  his  crimfon  banner  waved;  530 

While  Rocks  on  Rocks  their  beetling  brows  oppofe 
With  piny  forefts,  and  unfathom'd  fnows ; 
Onward  he  march'd,  to  Latium's  velvet  ground, 
With  fires  and  acids  burft  the  obdurate  bound, 

The  granite-cliffs.  1.  533.  On  long  expofure  to  air,  the  granites  or  pot- 
phories  of  this  country  exhibit  a  ferruginous  cruft;  the  iron  being  calcined 
by  the  air,  firft  becomes  vifible,  and  is  then  wafhed  away  from  the  external 
furface,  which  becomes  white  or  grey,  and  thus,  in  time,  feems  to  decom- 
jofe.  The  marbles  feem  to  decompofe  by  lofmg  their  carbonic  acid,  as  the 
outfide,  which  has  been  long  expofed  to  the  air,  does  not  feem  to  effervefce 
fo  haftily  with  acids  as  the  parts  more  recently  broken.  The  immenfe  quan- 
tity of  carbonic  acid,  which  exifts  in  the  many  provinces  of  lime-ftonc,  if 
it  was  extricated  and  decompofed,  would  afford  charcoal  enough  for  fuel  for 
ages,  or  for  the  production  of  new  vegetable  or  animal  bodies.  The  vol- 
canic flaggs  on  Mount  Vefuvius  are  faid,  by  Mr.  Ferber,  to  be  changed 
into  clcy  by  means  of  the  fulphur-acid,  and  even  pots  made  of  clay,  and 
burnt,  or  vitrified,  are  faid  by  him  to  be  again  reducible  to  dudlile  clay,  by 
the  volcanic  fteams.  Ferber 's  Travels  through  Italy,  p.  1 6 6.  See  additional 
notes,  No.  XXIV. 

Wooden  -wedges  luound.  1.  524.  It  is  ufual,  in  feparating  large  mill-ftones 
from  the  filiceous  fand  rocks  in  fome  parts  of  Derbyfhire,  to  bore  horizon- 
tal holes  under  them  in  a  circle,  and  fill  thefe  with  pegs  made  of  dry  wood, 
which  gradually  fwell,  by  the  moifture  of  the  earth,  and,  in  a  day  or  two, 
lift  up  the  mill-ftone  without  breaking  it. 

With  fres  and  acids.  1.  534.  Hannibal  was  faid  to  erode  his  way  over 
the  Alps  by  fire  and  vinegar.  The  latter  i«  fuppofed  to  allude  to  the  vine- 


64  BOTANIC  GARDEN".  PART!, 

Wide  o'er  the  weeping  Vales  deftru&ion  hurl'd,  535 

And  fhook  the  riling  empire  of  the  world. 

X.  Go,  gentle  Gnomes  !  refume  your  vernal  toil, 
Seek  my  chill  tribes,  which  fleep  beneath  the  foil ; 
On  grey-mofs  banks,  green  meads,  or  furrow'd  lands, 
Spread  the  dark  mould,  white  lime,  and  crumbling  fands ; 
Each  burfting  bud  with  healthier  juices  feed,  541 

Emerging  fcion,  or  awaken'd  feed. 
So,  in  defcending  ftreams,  the  filver  Chyle 
Streaks  with  white  clouds  the  golden  floods  of  Bile ; 
Through  each  nice  valve  the  mingling  currents  glide,          545 
Join  their  tine  rills,  and  fwell  the  fanguine  tide; 
Each  countlefs  cell,  and  viewlefs  fibre  feek, 
Nerve  the  ftrong  arm,  and  tinge  the  blufhing  cheek. 

"  Oh,  watch,  where  bofom'd  in  the  teeming  earth, 
Green  fwells  the  germ,  impatient  for  its  birth  ;  550 

Guard  from  rapacious  worms  its  tender  {hoots, 
And  drive  the  mining  beetle  from  its  roots ; 
With  ceafelefs  efforts  rend  the  obdurate  clay, 
And  give  my  vegetable  babes  to  day  ! 

— Thus  when  an  Angel-form,  in  light  array'd,  555 

Like  HOWARD  pierced  the  prifon's  noifome  {hade; 
Where  chain'd  to  earth,  with  eyes  to  heaven  upturn'd, 
The  kneeling  Saint  in  holy  anguim.  mourn'd; — 
Ray'd  from  his  lucid  veft,  and  halo'd  brow, 
O'er  the  dark  roof  celeftial  luftres  glow,  560 

"  PETER,  arife!"  with  cheering  voice  He  calls, 
And  founds  feraphic  echo  round  the  walls ; 
Locks,  bolts,  and  chains  his  potent  touch  obey, 
And  pleafed  he  leads  the  exulting  Sage  to  day. 

gar  and  water  which  was  the  beverage  of  his  army.  In  refpect  to  the  for- 
mer it  is  not  improbable,  but  where  wood  was  to  be  had  in  great  abundance, 
that  fires  made  round  lime-Hone  precipices  would  calcine  them  to  a  confider- 
able  depth ;  the  night-dews,  or  mountain-mifts  would  penetrate  thefe  cal- 
cined p'.:rts,  and  pulverize  them  by  the  force  of  the  fleam  which  the  gene- 
rated heat  would  produce,  the  winds  would  difperfe  this  lime-powder,  and 
thus,  by  repeated  fires,  a  precipice  of  lime-frone  might  be  deftroyed,  and 
a  paffage  opened.  It  fhould  be  added,  that  according  to  Ferber's  obierva- 
tions,  theie  Alps  confift  of  lime-Hone.  Letters  from  Italy. 


CANTO  II.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  6$ 

XL  "  You  !  whofe  fine  fingers  fill  the  organic  cells        565 
With  virgin  earth,  of  woods,  and  bones,  and  {hells; 
Mould  with  retra&ile  glue  their  fpongy  beds, 
And  ftretch  and  flrengthen  all  their  fibre-threads. — • 
.Late  when  the  mafs  obeys  its  changeful  doom, 
And  finks  to  earth,  its  cradle  and  its  tomb,  570 

Gnomes  /   witfr  nice  eye  the  flow  folution  watch, 
With  foftering  hand  the  parting  atoms  catch, 
Join  in  new  forms,  combine  with  life  and  fenfe, 
And  guide  and  guard  the  tranfmigrating  Ens. 

Mould  w'ttl  retractile  glue.  1.  567.  The  condiment  parts  of  animal  fibred 
arc  believed  to  be  earth  and  gluten.  Thefe  do  not  feparate  except  by  long 
putrefaction  or  by  fire.  The  earth  then  effervefces  with  acids,  and  can  only 
be  converted  into  glafs  by  the  greateft  force  of  fire.  The  gluten  has  con- 
tinued united  with  the  earth  of  the  bones  above  aooo  years  iri  Egyptian 
mummies,  but  by  long  expofure  to  air  or  moiflure,  k  diflolves,  and  leaves 
only  the  earth.  Hence,  bones  long  buried,  when  expofed  to  the  air,  abforb 
moifture,  and  crumble  into  powder.  Phil.  Tranf.  No.  475.  The  retracli- 
bility  or  elafticity  of  the  animal  fibre  depends  on  the  gkten;  and  of  thefe 
fibres  are  compofed  the  membranes,  mufclcs,  and  bones.  Haller.  Phyfioh 
Tom.  I.  p.  z. 

For  the  chemical  decompofition  of  animal  and  vegetable  bodies,  fee  the 
ingenious  work  of  Lavoifier,  Traite  de  Chimie,  Tom.  I.  p.  132.  who  re- 
folves  all  their  component  parts  into  oxygene,  hydrogene,  carbone,  and  azote; 
the  three  former  of  which  belong  principally  to  vegetable,  and  the  laft  to 
animal  matter. 

The  tranfmigrating  Ens.  1.  574.  The  perpetual  circulation  of  matter,  iri 
the  growth  and  diffolution  of  vegetable  and  animal  bodies,  feems  to  have 
given  Pythagoras  his  idea  of  the  metempfy coils,  or  tranfmigration  of  fpirit, 
which  was  afterwards  dreffed  out,  or  ridiculed,  in  a  variety  of  amufing  fables, 
Other  philofophers  have  fuppofed,  that  there  are  two  different  materials  or 
eiTences,  which  fill  the  univerfe.  One  of  thefe,  which  has  the  power  of 
commencing  or  producing  motion,  is  called  fpirit;  the  other,  which  has  the 
power  of  receiving  and  of  communicating  motion,  but  not  of  beginning  it, 
is  called  matter.  The  former  of  thefe  is  fuppofed  to  be  diffufed  through  all 
fpace,  filling  up  the  interfaces  of  the  funs  and  planets,  and  coniHtuting  the 
gravitations  of  the  fidereal  bodies,  the  attractions  of  chemiftry,  with  the  fpi- 
rit of  vegetation,  and  of  animation.  The  latter  occupies  comparatively  but 
fmall  fpace,  conitituting  the  folid  parts  of  the  funs  and  planets,  and  their  at- 
mofphcres.  Hence  thefe  philofophers  have  fuppofed,  that  both  matter  and 
fpirit  are  equally  immortal  and  unperifhable;  and  that,  on  the  diffolution  of 
vegetable  or  animal  organization,  the  matter  returns  to  the  general  mafs  of 
matter,  and  the  fpirit  to  the  general  mafs  t>f  fpirit,  to  enter  again  into  new 
combinations,  according  to  the  original  idea  of  Pythagoras. 

The  fmall  apparent  quantity  of  matter  that  exjfts  in  the  univerfe,  com- 
pared to  that  of  fpirit,  and  the  fhoft  time  in  which  the  recrements  of  ani- 
mal or  vegetable  bodies  become  again  vivified  in  the  forms  of  vegetable 
mucor  or  microfcopic  infers,  feems  to  have  given  rife  to  another  curious  fa- 
ble of  antiquity;  that  Jupiter  threw  down  a  large  handful  of  fouls  upon  the 
earth,  and  left  them  to  fcramble  for  the  few  bodies  which  were  to  be  had. 

TART  I.  K 


66  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

"  So  when  on  Lebanon's  fequefter'd  height  575 

The  fair  ADONIS  left  the  realms  of  light, 
Bow'd  his  bright  locks,  and,  fated  from  his  birth 
To  change  eternal,  mingled  with  the  earth ; — 
With  darker  horror  (hook  the  confcious  wood, 
Groan'd  the  fad  gales,  and  rivers  bluih'd  with  blood ;        580 
On  cyprefs-boughs  the  Loves  their  quivers  himg, 
Their  arrows  fcatter'd,  and  their  bows  unftrung ; 
And  Beauty's  Goddefs,  bending  o'er  his  bier, 
Breathed  the  foft  figh,  and  pour'd  the  tender  tear. — 
Admiring  Proferpine  through  dulky  glades  505 

Led  the  fair  phantom  to  Elyfian  {hades, 
Clad  with  new  form,  with  finer  fenfe  combined, 
And  lit  with  purer  flame  the  ethereal  mind. 
— Erewhile,  emerging  from  infernal  night, 
The  bright  Affurgent  rifes  into  light,  590 

Leaves  the  drear  chambers  of  the  infatiate  tomb, 
And  (nines  and  charms  with  renovated  bloom. — 
While  wondering  Loves  the  burfting  grave  furround, 
And  edge  with  meeting  wings  the  yawning  ground, 
Stretch  their  fair  necks,  and  leaning  o'er  the  brink,  595 

View  the  pale  regions  of  the  dead,  and  ihrink; 
Long  with  broad  eyes  ecftatic  Beauty  ftands, 
Heaves  her  white  bofom,  fpreads  her  waxen  hands ; 

Adonis.  1.  576.  The  very  ancient  ftory  of  the  beautiful  Adonis  paflrng 
one  half  of  the  year  with  Venus,  and  the  other  with  Proferpine,  alternately, 
has  had  variety  of  interpretations.  Some  have  fuppofed  that  it  allegorized 
the  fummer  and  winter  folftice  ;  but  this  feems  too  obvious  a  fa6l  to  have 
needed  an  hieroglyphic  emblem.  Others  have  believed  it  to  reprefent  the 
corn,  which  was  fuppofed  to  fleep  in  the  earth  during  the  winter  months, 
and  to  rife  out  of  it  in  fummer.  This  does  not  accord  with  the  climate  of 
Egypt,  where  the  harveft  foon  follows  the  feed-time. 

It  feems  more  probably  to  have  been  a  ftory  explaining  fome  hieroglyphic 
figures  reprefenting  the  decompofition  and  refufcitation  of  animal  matter; 
a  fublime  and  interefting  fubjecl:,  and  which  feems  to  have  given  origin  to 
the  dodtrine  of  tfanfmigradon,  which  had  probably  its  birth  alfo  from  the1 
hieroglyphic  treafures  of  Egypt.'  It  is  remarkable  that  the  cyprefs  groves, 
in  the  ancient  Greek  writers,  as  in  Theocritus,  were  dedicated  to  Venus, 
and  afterwards  became  funeral  emblems.  Which  was  probably  occafiotied 
by  the  Cyprefs  being  an  accompaniment  of  Venus  in  the  annual  proceffions, 
in  which  fhe  was  fuppofed  to  lament  over  the  funeral  of  Adonis;  a  cere- 
mony which  obtained  over  all  the  eaftern  world  from  great  antiquity,  and 
is  fuppofed  to  be  referred  to  by  Ezekiel,  who  accufes  the  idolatrous  woman* 
of  weeping  for  Thammuz, 


CANTO  II.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  67 

Then  with  loud  ftiriek  the  panting  Youth  alarms, 

"  My  Life  !  my  Love  !"  and  fprings  into  his  arms.'*         600 

The  Goddefs  ceafed,  —  the  delegated  throng 
O'er  the  wide  plains  delighted  rufh  along; 
In  dufky  fquadrons,  and  in  fhining  groups, 
Hofts  follow  hofts,  and  troops  fucceed  to  troops  ; 
Scarce  bears  the  bending  grafs  the  moving  freight,  605 

And  nodding  florets  bow  beneath  their  weight. 
So  when  light  clouds  on  airy  pinions  fail, 
Flit  the  foft  fhadows  o'er  the  waving  vale  ; 
Shade  follows  {hade,  as  laughing  Zephyrs  drive, 
And  all  the  chequer'd  landfcape  feems  alive.  610 


drive.  1.  609.     Thefe  lines  were  originally  written  thus, 

Shade  follows  fhade  by  laughing  Zephyrs  drove, 
And  all  the  chequer'd  landfcape  feems  to  move; 

but  were  altered  on  account  of  the  fuppofed  falfe  grammar  in  ufing  the 
word  drove  for  driven,  according  to  the  opinion  of  Dr.Lowth:  at  the  fame 
time  it  may  fee  obferved,  I.  That  this  is,  in  many  cafes,  only  an  ellipfis  of 
the  letter  «  at  the  end  of  the  word,  as  froze  for  frozen,  wove  for  woven, 
fpoke  for  fpoken,  and  that  then  the  participle  accidentally  becomes  fimilaf 
to  the  paft  tenfe:  3.  That  the  language  feems  gradually  tending  to  omit  the 
letter  n  in  other  kind  of  words,  for  the  fake  of  euphony  ;  as  houfen  is  become 
houfes,  eyne  eyes,  thine  thy,  &c.  and,  in  common  converfation,  the  words 
forgot,  fpoke,  froze,  rode,  are  frequently  ufed  for  forgotten,  fpoken,  frozen,' 
ridden.  3.  It  does  not  appear  that  any  confufion  would  follow  the  indif- 
criminate  ufe  of  the  fame  word  for  the  paft  tenfe  and  the  participle  paffivc, 
fince  the  auxiliary  verb  have,  or  the  preceding  noun  or  pronoun,  always 
clearly  diftinguilb.es  them:  and,  laftly,  rhime-poetrjr  muft  lofe  the  vfe  of 
many  elegant  words  without  this  licenfe. 


ARGUMENT 

tiF   TIfE 

THIRD    CANTO. 


ADDRESS  to  the  Nymphs.  I.  Steam  rifes  from  the  ocean,  floats  in  clouds, 
defcends  in  rain  and  dew,  or  is  condenfed  on  hills,  produces  fprings,  and  ri- 
vers, and  returns  to  the  fca.  So  the  blood  circulates  through  the  body  and 
returns  to  the  heart,  n.  II.  I.  Tides,  57.  a,  Echinus,  nautilus,  pinna, 
cancer.  Grotto  of  a  mermaid,  65.  3.  Oil  ftills  the  waves.  Coral  rocks. 
Ship-worm,  or  Teredo.  Maelflrome,  a  whirlpool  on  the  coaft  of  Norway, 
85.  III.  Rivers  from  beneath  the  fnows  on  the  Alps.  The  Tiber,  103. 
IV.  Overflowing  of  the  Nile  from  African  Monfoons,  129.  V.  I.  Giefar, 
9.  boiling  fountaip  in  Iceland,  deftroyed  by  inundation,  and  confequent  earth- 
quake, 145.  a.  Warm  medicinal  fprings.  Buxton.  Duke  and  Duchefs  of 
Devonlhire,  I  rj.  VI.  Combination  of  vital  air  and  inflammable  gas  produces 
water.  Which  is  another  fource  of  fprings  and  rivers.  Allegorical  loves 
of  Jupiter  and  Juno  productive  of  vernal  fhowers,  201.  VII.  Aquatic  Tafte, 
Diftant  murmur  of  the  fea  by  night.  Sea-horfe.  Nereid  finging,  a6l. 
VIII.  The  Nymphs  of  the  river  Derwent  lament  the  death  of  Mrs.  French, 
297.  IX.  Inland  navigation.  Monument  for  Mr.  Brindley,  341.  X. 
Pumps  explained.  Child  fucking.  Mothers  exhorted  to  nurfe  their  children. 
Cherub  fleeping,  365.  XI.  Engines  for  extinguishing  fire.  Story  of  two 
lovers  perifhing  in  the  flames,  397.  XII.  Charities  of  Mifs  Jones,  447. 
XIII.  Mar fb.es  drained.  Hercules  conquers  Achelous.  The  horn  of  plenty, 
483.  XIV.  Showers.  Dews.  Floating  lands  with  water.  Ladteal  fyftem 
in  animals  Caravan  drinking,  529.  Departure  of  the  Nymphs  like  water- 
fpiders;  like  northern  nations  fkaiting  on  the  ice,  569. 


THE 

BOTANIC  GARDEN. 

ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION, 
CANTO  III. 

AGAIN  the  Goddefs  fpeaks !  glad  Echo  fwells 

The  tuneful  tones  along  her  fhadowy  dells, 

Her  wrinkling  founts  with  foft  vibration  fhakes, 

Curls  her  deep  wells,  and  rimples  all  her  lakes, 

Thrills  each  wide  ftream,  Britannia's  ifle  that  laves,  £ 

Her  headlong  cataradls,  and  circumfluent  waves. 

— Thick  as-  the  dews,  which  deck  the  morning  flowers, 

Or  rain-drops  twinkling  in  the  fun-bright  Ihowers, 

Fair  Nymphs,  emerging  in  pellucid  bands, 

Rife,  as  fhe  turns,  and  whiten  all  the  lands,  jo 

I.   "  ^Your  buoyant  troops  on  dimpling  ocean  tread, 
Wafting  the  moift  air  from  his  oozy  bed, 
Aquatic  Nymphs  ! — you  lead  with  viewlefs  march 
The  winged  Vapours  up  the  aerial  arch, 
On  each  broad  cloud  a  thoufand  fails  expand,  15 

And  fleer  the  fhadowy  treafure  o'er  the  land ; 


*Tbe  winged  -vapours.  1.  14.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XXV.  on  evapora- 
tion. ? 

On  each  broad  cloud.  \.  15.  The  clouds  confift  of  condenfed  vapcur,  the 
particles  of  which  are  too  fmall  feparately  to  overcome  the  tenacity  of  the 
air,  and  which,  therefore,  do  not  defcend.  They  are  in  fuch  fmall  fpheres 
as  to  repel  each  other;  that  is,  they  are  applied  to  each  other  by  fuch  very 
fmall  furfaces,  that  the  attraction  of  the  particles  of  each  drop  to  its  own 
fentre,  is  greater  than  its  attraction  to  the  furface  of  the  drop  in  its  vicinity; 


70  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Through  vernal  fides  the  gathering  drops  diffufe, 

Plunge  in  foft  rains,  or  fink  in  filver  dews. — 

Your  lucid  bands  condenfe  with  fingers  chill 

The  blue  mift  hovering  round  the  gelid  hill;  20 

every  one  has  obferved  with  what  difficulty  fmall  fpherules  of  quickfilver 
can  lie  made  to  unite,  owing  to  the  fame  caufe;  and  it  is  common  to  fee, 
onr  riding  through  {hallow  water  on  a  clear  day,  numbers  of  very  fmall 
fpheres  of  water,  as  they  are  thrown  from  the  horfes  feet,  run  along  the 
furface  for  many  yards  before  they  again  unite  with  it.  In  many  cafes  thefe 
fpherules  of  water,  which  compofe  clouds,  are  kept  from  uniting  by  a  fur- 
plus  of  electric  fluid,  and  fall,  in  violent  fhowers,  as  foon  as  that  is  with- 
drawn from  them,  as  in  thunder  ftorms.  See  note  on  Canto  I.  1.  554. 

If,  in  this  ftate,  a  cloud  becomes  frozen,  it  is  torn  to  pieces  in  its  defcent, 
by  the  fri6tion  of  the  air,  and  falls  in  white  flakes  of  fnow.  Or  thefe  flakes 
are  rounded  by  being  rubbed  together  by  the  winds,  and  by  having  their 
angles  thawed  off  by  the  warmer  air  beneath  as  they  defcencl;  and  part  of 
the  water  produced  by  thefe  angles,  thus  dilfolved,  is  abforbed  into  the  body 
of  the  hail-ftone,  as  may  be  feen  by  holding  a  lump  of  fnow  over  a  candle, 
and  there  beccmes  frozen  into  ice,  by  the  quantity  of  cold  which  the  hail- 
ftone  poflefles  beneath  the  freezing  point,  or  which  is  produced  by  its  quick 
evaporation  in  falling;  and  thus  hail-ftones  are  often  found  of  greater  or 
lefs  denfity,  according  as  they  confift  of  a  greater  portion  of  fnow  or  ice. 
If  hail-ftones  confided  of  the  large  drops  of  fhowers  frozen  in  their  defcent, 
they  would  confift  of  pure  tranfparent  ice. 

As  hail  is  only  produced  in  fummer,  and  is  always  attended  with  ftorms, 
fome  philofophers  have  believed,  that  th'e  fudden  departure  of  electricity 
from  a  cloud  may  effect  fomething  yet  unknown  in  this  phenomenon ;  but 
it  may  happen  in  fummer  independent  of  electricity,  becaufe  aqueous  vapour- 
is  then  railed  higher  in  the  atmofphere,  whence  it  has  further  to  fall,  and 
there  is  warmer  air  below  for  it  to  fall  through. 

Orfn-L  Inftkierdeivs.  I.  18.  During  the  coldnefs  of  the  night  the  moifture 
before  diilblved  in  the  air  is  gradually  precipitated,  and,  as  it  fuMides,  ad- 
heres to  the  bodies  it  falls  upon.  Where  the  attraction  of  the  body  to  the 
particles  of  water  is  greater  than  the  attractions  of  thofe  particles  to  each 
other,  it  becomes  fpread  upon  their  furface,  or  Hides  down  them  in  actual 
contact,  as  on  the  broad  parts  of  the  blades  of  moift  grafs.  Where  the  at- 
traction of  the  furface  to  the  water  is  lefs  than  the  attraction  of  the  particles 
of  water  to  each  other,  the  dew  {lands  in  drops,  as  on  the  points  and  edges 
of  grafs  or  gcrfe,  where  the  furface  prefented  to  the  drop  being  fmall,  it  at- 
tracts it  fo  little  as  but  juft  to  fupport  it  without  much  changing  its  globu* 
lar  form.  Where  there  is  no  attraction  between  the  vegetable  furface  and 
the  dew  drops,  as  on  cabbage  leaves,  the  drop  does  not  come  into  contact 
with  the  leaf,  but  hangs  over  it  repelled,  and  retains  its  natural  form,  com- 
pofed  of  the  attraction  and  prefigure  of  its  own  parts,  and  thence  looks  like 
<qiiickfUver,  reflecting  light  from  both  its  furfaces.  Nor  is  this  owing  to 
any  oilinefs  of  the  leaf,  but  (Imply  to  the  polifh  of  its  furface,  as  a  light 
needle  may  be  laid  en  water  in  the  fame  manner  without  touching  it;  for  as 
the  attractive  powers  of  polifhed  furfaces  are  greater  when  in  actual  con- 
tact, fo  the  repulfive  power  is  greater  before  contact. 

The  blue  ni'ije.  \.  2O.  Mifts  are  clouds  refting  on  the  ground;  the}'  gene- 
rally come  on  at  the  beginning  of  ni^lit,  and  cither. fill  i:he  moift  valHes,  or 
hang  on  the  funurats  of  hiils,  according  to  the  degree  of  moifture  prcviouCy 


III.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  ft 

In  clay-form'd  beds  the  trickling  ftreams  collect:, 
Strain  through  white  fands,  through  pebbly  veins  dire& ; 
Or  point  in  rifted  rocks  their  dubious  way, 
And  in  each  bubbling  fountain  rife  to  day* 

"  Nymphs  I  you  then  guide,  attendant  from  their  fource, 
The  affociate  rills  along  their  imuous  courfe  j  26 

Float  in  bright  fquadrons  by  the  willowy  brink, 
Or  circling  flow  in  limpid  eddies  fink ; 
Call  from  her  cryftal  cave  the  Naiad- Nymph, 
Who  hides  her  fine  form  in  the  paffing  lymph,  30 

And,  as  below  {he  braids  her  hyaline  hair, 
Eyes  her  ibft  fmiles  reflected  in  the  air ; 
Or  fport  in  groups  with  River-Boys,  that  lave 
Their  filken  limbs  amid  the  dafliing  wave ; 
Pluck  the  pale  primrofe  bending  from  its  edge,  35 

Or  tittering  dance  amid  the  whifpeiing  fedge. — • 


diflblved,  and  the  edu&ion  of  heat>from  them.  The  air  over  rivers,  during 
the  warmth  of  the  day,  fufpends  much  moiilure ;  and,  as  the  changeful  fur- 
face  of  rivers  occafions  them  to  cool  fooner  than  the  land,  at  the  approach 
of  evening,  mifts  are  moft  frequently  feen  to  begin  over  rivers,  and  to  fpread 
themfelves  over  moift  grounds,  and  fill  the  vallies,  while  the  mifts  on  the 
tops  of  mountains  are  more  properly  clouds,  condenfed  by  the  coldnefs  o£ 
their  fituation. 

On  afcending  up  the  fide  of  a  hill  from  a  mifty  valley,  I  have  obferved  a 
beautiful  coloured  halo  round  the  moon,  when  a  certain  thickfiefs  of  miit 
was  over  me,  which  ceafed  to  be  vifible  as  foon  as  I  emerged  out  of  it;  and 
well  remember  admiring,  with  other  fpe&ators,  the  fnadow.  of  the  three 
fpires  of  the  cathedral  church  at  Lichfield,  the  moon  rifing  behind  it,  appa- 
rently broken  off,  and  lying  diftincily  over  our  heads,  as  if  horizontally  on 
the  furface  of  the  mift,  which  arofe  about  as  high  as  the  roof  of  the  church. 
There  are  fome  curious  remarks  on  fhadows,  or  reflections  feen  on  the  fur- 
face  of  mifts  from  high  mountains,  in  Ulloa's  Voyages.  The  dry  mift  o£ 
fummer  1783,  was  probably  occafioned  by  volcanic  eruption,  as  mentioned 
in  note  on  Chunda,  vol.  II.  and,  therefore,  more  like  the  atmofphere  o£ 
fmoke,  which  hangs,  on  {till  days,  over  great  cities. 

There  is  a  dry  mift,  or  rather  a  diminifhed  tranfparence  of  the  air,  which, 
according  to  Mr.  Sauffure,  accompanies  fair  weather,  while  great  tranfpa-* 
rence  of  air  indicates  -rain.  Thus  when  large  rivers,  two  miles  broad,  fuch 
as  at  Liverpool,  appear  narrow,  it  is  faid  to  prognofticate  rain,  and  when 
wide,  fair  weather.  This  want  of  tranfparence  of  the  air,  in  dry  weather, 
may  be  owing  to  new  combinations  or  decompofitions  of  the  vapours  diffolved 
in  it,  but  wants  further  inveftigation.  Effais  fur  L'Hygrometrie,  p.  357. 

Round  the  gelid  hill.  ib.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XXVI.  on  the  origin 
of  fprings. 


J*  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  FAIT  I, 

"  Onward  you  pafs,  the  pine-capt  hills  divide, 
Or  feed  the  golden  harvefts  on  their  fide ; 
The  wide-ribb'd  arch  with  hurrying  torrents  fill, 
Shove  the  flow  barge,  or  whirl  the  foaming  mill.  40 

Or  lead  with  beckoning  hand  the  fparkling  train 
Of  refluent  water  to  its  parent  main, 
And  pleafed  revifit  in  their  fea-mofs  vales 
Blue  Nereid-forms  array'd  in  fhining  fcales, 
Shapes,  whofe  broad  oar  the  torpid  wave  impels'*  45 

And  Tritons  bellowing  through  their  twifted  ihells. 

"  So  from  the  heart  the  Sanguine  Stream  diftils 
O'er  Beauty's  radiant  {hrine  in  vermil  rills, 
Feeds  each  fine  nerve,  each  {lender  hair  pervades, 
The  fkin's  bright  (how  with  living  purple  fhades^  50 

Each  dimpling  cheek  with  warmer  bluihes  dyes, 
Laughs  on  the  lips,  and  lightens  in  the  eyes. 
- — Erewhile  abforb'd,  the  vagrant  globules  fwim 
From  each  fair  feature,  and  proportion'd  limb, 
Join'd  in  one  trunk  with  deeper  tint  return  -  55 

To  the  warm  concave  of  the  vital  urn. 

TT.    i.   "  Aquatic  Maids!  you  fway  the  mighty  realms 
Of  fcale  and  (hell,  which  Ocean  overwhelms ; 
As  Night's  pale  Queen  her  rifing  orb  reveals, 
And  climbs  the  zenith  with  refulgent  wheels,  60 

Carr'd  on  the  foam  your  glimmering  legion  rides, 
Your  little  tridents  heave  the  dafhing  tides, 

Car  Set  on  tie  foam.  1.  6 1.  The  phenomena  of  the  tides  have  been  well  in- 
VcPagated,  and  fatisfadlorily  explained,  by  Sir  Ifaac  Newton  and  Dr.  Halley, 
from  the  reciprocal  gravitations  of  the  earth,  moon,  and  fun.  As  the  earth 
and  moon  move  round  a  centre  of  motion  near  the  earth's  furface,  at  the 
fame  time  that  they  are  proceeding  in  their  annual  orbit  round  the  fun,  it 
follows,  that  the  water  on  the  fide  of  the  earth  neareft  this  centre  of  mo- 
tion, between  the  earth  and  moon,  will  be  more  attracted  by  the  moon, 
and  the  waters  on  the  oppolite  fide  of  the  earth  will  be  lefs  attracted  by 
the  moon,  than  the  central  parts  of  the  earth.  Atld  to  this,  that  the  centri- 
fugal force  of  the  water  on  the  fide  of  the  earth  furtheft  from  the  centre  of 
the  motion,  round  which  the  earth  and  moon  move,  (which,  as  was  laid  be- 
fore, is  near  the  furface  of  the  earth,)  is  greater  than  that  on  the  oppofite. 
fide  of  the  earth.  From  both  thefe  caufes  it  is  eafy  to  comprehend,  that 
the  water  will  rife  on  two  fides  of  the  earth,  viz.  on  that  neareft  to  the 


CANTO  III.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  7$ 

Urge  on  the  founding  (bores  their  cryftal  courfe, 
Reftrain  their  fury,  or  direct  their  force. 

2.  "  Nymphs!  you  adorn,  in  glofly  volutes  roll'dj  6$ 
The  gaudy  conch  with  azure,  green,  and  gold. 

moon,  and  its  oppofite  fide,  and  that  it  will  be  flattened,  in  confequence,  at 
the  quadratures,  and  thus  produce  two  tides  in  every  lunar  day,  which  con- 
fifts  of  about  twenty-four  hours  and  forty-eight  minutes. 

Thefe  tides  will  be  alfo  affe&ed  by  the  folar  attraction  when  it  coincides 
with  the  lunar  one,  or  oppofes  it,  as  at  new  and  full  moon,  and  will  alfo 
be  much  influenced  by  the  oppofing  ihores  in  every  part  of  the  earth. 

Now,  as  the  moon,  in  moving  round  the  centre  of  gravity  between  itfelf 
and  the  earth,  defcribes  a  much  larger  orbit  than  the  earth  defcribes  round 
the  fame  centre,  it  follows,  that  the  centrifugal  motion  of  the  fide  of  the 
moon  oppofite  to  the  earth  muft  be  much  greater  than  the  centrifugal  mo- 
tion of  the  fide  of  the  earth  oppofite  to  the  moon,  round  the  fame  centre. 
And,  fecondly,  as  the  attraction  of  the  earth  exerted  on  the  moon's  furface 
next  to  the  earth,  is  much  greater  than  the  attraction  of  the  moon  exerted 
on  Hie  earth's  furface,  the  tides  on  the  lunar  fea  (if  fuch  there  be)  fhould  be 
much  greater  than  thofe  of  our  ocean.  Add  to  this,  that  as  the  fame  face 
of  the  moon  always  is  turned  to  the  earth,  the  lunar  tides  muft  be  permanent, 
and  if  the  folid  parts  of  the  moon  be  fpherical,  muft  always  cover  the  phafis 
next  to  us.  But  as  there  are  evidently  hills,  and  vales,  and  volcanos,  on  this 
fide  of  the  moon,  the  coniequence  is,  that  the  moon  has  no  ocean,  or  that 
it  is  frozen, 

Tie  gaudy  conch.  1.  66.  The  fpiral  form  of  many  fhells  feem  to  have  af- 
forded a  more  frugal  manner  of  covering  the  long  tail  of  the  fifh  with  calca- 
reous armour;  fince  a  fingle  thin  partition  between  the  adjoining  circles  of 
the  fifli  was  fufficient  to  defend  both  furfaces,  and  thus  much  cretaceous  mat- 
ter is  faved;  and  it  is  probable,  that  from  this  fpiral  form  they  are  better 
enabled  to  feel  the  vibrations  of  the  element  in  which  they  exift.  See  note  on 
Canto  IV.  1.  162.  This  cretaceous  matter  is  formed  by  a  mucous  fecretion 
from  the  fkin  of  the  fifh,  as  is  feen  in  crab-fifh,  and  others  which  annually 
caft  their  fhells,  and  is  at  firft  a  mucous  covering  (like  that  of  a  hen's 
egg,  when  it  is  laid  a  day  or  two  too  foon)  and  which  gradually  hardens. 
This  may  allb  be  feen  in  common  {hell  fnails;  if  a  part  of  their  fhell  be  bro- 
ken, it  becomes  repaired  in  a  fimilar  manner  with  mucus,  which,  by  degrees, 
hat  dens  into  fhell. 

It  is  probable  the  calculi,  or  ftones  found  in  other  animals,  may  have  a 
fimilar  origin,  as  they  are  formed  on  mucous  membranes,  as  thofe  of  the 
kidney  and  bladder,  chalk-ftones  in  the  gout,  and  gall-ftones ;  and  are  pro- 
bably owing  to  the  inflammation  of  the  membrane  where  they  are  produced, 
and  vary  according  to  the  degree  of  inflammation  of  the  membrane  which 
forms  them,  and  the  kind  of  mucus  which  it  naturally  produces.  Thus  the 
fheily  matter  of  different  fhell-fifh  differs,  from  the  coarfer  kinds,  which 
form  the  fhells  of  crabs,  to  the  finer  kinds,  which  produce  the  mother-pearl. 

The  beautiful  colours  of  fome  fhells  originate  from  the  thinnefs  of  the  la* 
minai  of  which  they  confift,  rather  than  to  any  colouring  matter,  as  is  feen 
in  mother-pearl,  which  reflects  different  colours  according  to  the  obliquity  of 
the  light  which  falls  on  it.  The  beautiful  prifmatic  colours  feen  on  the  La- 
bradore  ftone,  are  owing  to  a  fimilar  caufe,  viz.  the  thinnefs  of  the  lamiuas 
of  which  it  coufiils,  and  has  probably  been  formed  from  mother-pearl  fhell»» 

PART  i.  L 


74  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PA  RT  I, 

You  round  Echinus  ray  his  arrowy  mail, 

Give  the  keel'cl  Nautilus  his  oar  and  fail ; 

Firm  to  his  rock  with  filver  cords  fufpend 

The  anchor'd  Pinna,  and  his  Cancer-friend ;  70 

With  worm-like  beard  his  toothlefs  lips  array, 

And  teach  the  unwieldy  Sturgeon  to  betray. — 

Ambufh'd  in  weeds,  or  fepulchred  in  fands, 

In  dread  repofe  He  waits  the  fcaly  bands, 

Waves  in  red  fpires  the  living  lures,  and  draws  75 

The  unwary  plunderers  to  his  circling  jaws, 

Eyes  with  grim  joy  the  twinkling  fhoals  befet, 

And  clafps  the  quick  inextricable  net. 

You  chafe  the  warrior  Shark,  and  cumberous  Whale, 

And  guard  the  Mermaid  in  her  briny  vale ;  80 

Feed  the  live  petals  of  her  infect-flowers, 

Her  {hell-wrack  gardens,  and  her  fea-fan  bowers; 

With  ores  and  gems  adorn  her  coral  cell, 

And  drop  a  pearl  in  every  gaping  fhell. 

It  is  curious  that  fome  of  the  mo  A  common  foflll  fliells  are  not  now1 
known  in  their  recent  ftate,  as  the  cornua  ammonis;  and,  on  the  contrary, 
many  fliells  which  are  very  plentiful  in  their  recent  ftate,  as  limpets,  fea- 
ears,  volutes,  cowries,  are  very  rarely  found  foffil.  Da  Cofta's  Conchology, 
p.  163.  Were  all  the  ammonias  deftroyed  when  the  continents  were  raifed? 
Or  do  fome  genera  of  animals  perifh  by  the  increafmg  power  of  their  ene- 
mies ?  Or  do  they  ftill  refide  at  inacceflible  depths  in  the  fea?  Or  do  fome 
animals  change  their  form  gradually,  and  become  new  genera? 

Echinus.  Nautilus.  1.  67,  68.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXVII. 

Pinna.  Cancer.  1.  70.     See  additional  notes,   No.  XXVII. 

"With  iuorm-like  beard.  1.  71.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXVIII. 

Feed  the  live  petals.  1.  8l.  There  is  a  fea-infect,  defcribed  by  M.  Huges* 
whofe  claws,  or  tentacles,  being  difpofed  in  regular  circles,  and  tinged  with 
variety  of  bright  lively  colours,  reprefent  the  petals  of  fome  mod  elegantly 
fringed  and  radiated  flowers,  as  the  carnation,  marigold,  and  anemone. 
Philof.  Tranf.  Abridg.  vol.  IX.  p.  no.  The  Abbe  Dicquemarre  has  fur- 
ther elucidated  the  hiftory  of  the  actinia,  and  obferved  their  manner  of 
taking  their  prey  by  inclofing  it  in  thefe  beautiful  rays  like  a  net;  Phil. 
Tranf.  vol.  LXIII.  and  LXV.  and  LXVIL 

And  drop  a  pearl.  1.  84.  Many  are  the  opinions  both  of  ancient  and  mo- 
dern writers  concerning  the  production  of  pearls.  Mr.  Reaumur  thinks 
they  are  formed  like  the  hard  concretions  in  many  land  animals,  as  ftones 
of  the  bladder,  gall-ftones,  and  bezoar,  and  hence  concludes  them  to  be  a 
<lifeafe  of  the  fifh;  but  there  feems  to  be  a  ftricler  analogy  between  thefe 
and  the  calcareous  productions  found  in  crab-fifh,  called  crab's  eyes,  which 
are  formed  near  the  ftomach  of  the  animal,  and  conftitute  a  refervoir  of  cal- 
careous matter  againil  the  renovation  of  the  fhell,  at  which  time  they  are 


CANTO  III.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  75 

3.  "  Your  myriad  trains  o'er  ftagnant  oceans  tow,         85 
Harnefs'd  with  goffamer,  the  loitering  prow ; 
Or  with  fine  films,  fufpended  o'er  the  deep, 
pf  oil  effufive  lull  the  waves  to  ileep. 
You  ftay  the  flying  bark,  conceal'd  heneath, 
Where  living  rocks  of  worm-built  coral  breathe ;      _  9° 

Meet  fell  TEREDO,  as  he  mines  the  keel 
With  beaked  head,  and  break  his  lips  of  fteel ; 
Turn  the  broad  helm,  the  fluttering  canvas  urge 
From  MAELSTROME'S  fierce  innavigable  furge. 
-'Mid  the  lorn  ifles  of  Norway's  ftormy  main,  95 

As  fweeps  o'er  many  a  league  his  eddying  train, 
Vaft  watery  walls  in  rapid  circles  fpin, 
And  deep-ingulph'd  the  Demon  dwells  within ; 
Springs  o'er  the  fear-froze  crew  with  harpy-claws, 
Down  his  deep  den  the  whirling  veflel  draws ;  IQO 

Churns  with  his  bloody  mouth  the  dread  repaft, 
The  booming  waters  murmuring  o'er  the  maft. 

III.  "  Where  with  chill  frown  enormous  Alps  alarms 
A  thoufand  realms,  horizon'd  in  his  arms ; 
While  cloudlefs  funs  meridian  glories  filed  105 

From  {kies  of  filver  round  his  hoary  head, 


re-diflblved,  and  deposited  for  that  purpofe.  As  the  internal  part  of  the 
fhell  of  the  pearl,  oyfter,  or  mufcle,  confifts  of  mother-pearl,  which  is  a  fimi- 
lar  material  to  the  pearl,  and,  as  the  animal  has  annually  occafion  to  enlarge 
his  Ihell,  there  is  reafon  to  fufpecl  the  loofe  pearls  are  fmiilar  refervoirs  of 
the  pearly  matter  for  that  purpofe. 

Or  with fne flats.  1.  87.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XXIX. 
Where  living  tods.  1.  90.  The  immenfe  and  dangerous  rocks  built  hy  the 
fvvarms  of  coral  infecls,  which  rife  almoft  perpendicularly  in  the  foutherrf 
ocean,  like  walls,  are  defcribed  in  Cook's  Voyages;  a  point  of  one  of  thefe 
rocks  broke  off,  and  fluck  in  the  hole  which  it  had  made  in  the  bottom  of 
one  of  his  Ihips,  which  would  otherwife  have  perifhed  by  the  admiflion  of 
water.  The  numerous  lime-ftone  rocks,  which  confift  of  a  congeries  of  the 
cells  of  thefe  animals,  and  which  conftitute  a  great  part  of  the  folid  earth, 
fhew  their  prodigious  multiplication  in  all  ages  of  the  world.  Specimens  of 
thefe  rocks  are  to  be  feen  in  the  lime-works  at  Linfel,  near  Newport,  in 
Shropfhire,  in  Coal-brook  Dale,  and  in  many  parts  of  the  Peak  of  Derby- 
fhire.  The  infect  has  been  well  defcribed  by  M.  Peyfonnel,  Ellis,  and  others. 
Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  XLVII.  L.  LII.  and  LVII. 

Meet  fell  Teredo.  1.  91.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXX. 
Turn  the  broad  helm.  1.  93.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXI. 


76  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Tall  rocks  of  ice  refra'cl:  tJmcoloured  rays, 

And  Froft  fits  throned  amid  the  lambent  blaze; 

Nymphs  !  your  thin  forms  pervade  his  glittering  piles, 

His  roofs  of  chryftal,  and  his  glafly  ailes;  HO 

Where  in  cold  caves  imprifoned  Naiads  fleep, 

Or  chain'd  on  mofTy  couches  wake  and  weep ; 

Where  round  dark  crags  indignant  Waters  bend 

Through  rifted  ice,  in  ivory  veins  defcend, 

Seek  through  unfathom'd  fnows  their  devious  track,  115 

Heave  the  vaft  fpars,  the  ribbed  granites  crack, 

Rufh  into  day,  in  foamy  torrents  fhine, 

And  fwell  the  imperial  Danube  or  the  Rhine. — 

Where  round  dark  crags.  1.  113.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXII. 
Heave  the  waft  fpars.  1.  1 1 6.  Water,  in  defcending  down  elevated  fltua-i 
tions,  if  the  outlet  for  it  below  is  not  fufficient  for  its  emiffion,  adts  with 
a  force  equal  to  the  height  of  the  column,  as  is  feen  in  an  experimental  ma- 
chine called  the  philosophical  bellows,  in  which  a  few  pints  of  water  arc 
made  to  raife  many  hundred  pounds.  To  this  caufe  is  to  be  afcribed  many 
large  promontories  of  ice  being  occafionally  thrown  down  from  the  glaciers; 
rocks  have  likewife  been  thrown  from  the  fides  of  mountains  by  the  fame 
caufe,  and  large  portions  of  earth  have  been  removed  many  hundred  yards 
from  their  fituations  at  the  foot  of  mountains.  On  infpedting  the  locomo- 
tion of  about  thirty  acres  of  earth,  with  a  fmall  houfe,  near  Bilder's  Bridge, 
in  Shropfhire,  about  twenty  years  ago,  from  the  foot  of  a  mountain  towards 
the  river,  I  well  remember,  it  bore  all  the  marks  of  having  been  thus  lifted, 
up,  pufhed  away,  and,  as  it  were,  crumpled  into  ridges,  by  a  column  of 
water  contained  in  the  mountain. 

From  water  being  thus  confined  in  high  columns,  between  the  ftrata  of 
mountainous  countries,  it  has  often  happened,  when  wejls  or  perfora- 
tions have  been  made  into  the  earth,  that  fprings  have  arifen  much  above 
the  furface  of  the  new  well.  When  the  new  bridge  was  building  at  Dublin, 
Mr.  G.  Semple  found  a  fpring  in  the  bed  of  the  river  where  he  meant  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  a  pierre,  which,  by  fixing  iron  pipes  intp  it,  he  raifed 
many  feet.  Treatife  on  Building  in  Water,  by  G.  Semple.  From  having 
obferved  a  valley  north-weft  bf  St.  Alkmond's  well,  near  Derby,  at  the  head 
of  which  that  fpring  of  water  once  probably  exifted,  and  by  its  current 
^formed  the  valley,  (but  which,  in  after  times,  found  its  way  out  in  its  pre- 
fent  fituatipn,)  I  fufpeft  that  St.  Alkmond's  well  might,  by  building  round 
it,  be  raifed  high  enough  to  fupply  many  ftreets  in  Derby  with  fpring-water, 
which  are  now  only  fupplied  with  river-water.  See  an  account  of  an  arti- 
ficial fpring  of  water,  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  JLXXV.  p.  I. 

In  making  a  well  at  Sheer nefs  the  water  rofe  300  feet  above  its  fource  in 
the  well.  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  LXXIV.  And  at  Hartford,  in  Connecticut, 
there  is  a  well  which  was  dug  feventy  feet  deep  before  water  was  found  ; 
then,  in  boring  an  auger-hole  through  a  rock,  the  water  rofe  fo  faft  as  to 
make  it  difficult  to  keep  it  dry  by  pumps,  till  they  could  blow  the  hole 
larger  by  gun-powder,  which  was  no  fooner  accomplifhed  than  it  filled,  and 
run  over,  and  has  been  a  brook  for  near  a  century.  Travels  through  Ame- 
rica. Lond.  1789.  Lane. 


CANTO  III.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  77 

—  Or  feed  the  murmuring  TIBER,  as  he  laves 

His  realms  inglorious  with  diminifh'd  waves,  120 

Hears  his  lorn  Forum  found  with  Eunuch-flrains, 

Sees  dancing  flaves  infult  his  martial  plains  ; 

Parts  with  chill  ftream  the  dim  religious  bower, 

Time-mouldered  baftion,  and  difmantled  tower; 

By  alter'd  fanes  and  namelefs  villas  glides,  j  25 

And  claffic  domes,  that  tremble  on  his  fides  ; 

Sighs  o'er  each  broken  urn,  and  yawning  tomb, 

And  mourns  the  fall  of  1,1  BERT  y  and 


IV,  "  Sailing  in  air,  when  dark  Afonfoon  infhrouds 
His  tropic  mountains  in  a  night  of  clouds;  130 

Or  drawn  by  whirlwinds  from  the  Line  returns, 
And  fhowers  o'er  Afric  all  his  thoufand  urns; 
High  o'er  his  head  the  beams  of  SiRius  glow, 
And,  Dog  of  Nile,  AN  u  BIS,  barks  below. 
Nymphs  !  you  from  cliff  to  cliff  attendant  guide,  135 

In  headlong  cataracts  the  impetuous  tide  ; 
Or  lead  o'er  waftes  of  Abyjflinian  fands 
The  bright  expanfe  to  EGYPT'S  fhower-lefs  lands. 

Dark  Monfoon  injbrouds.  1.  129.  When  from  any  peculiar  fituations  of 
land,  in  refpecl:  to  fea,  the  tropic  becomes  more  heated,  when  the  fun  is 
vertical  over  it,  than  the  line,  the  periodical  winds,  called  monfoons,  are 
produced,  and  thefe  are  attended  by  rainy  feafons;  for  as  the  air  at  the  tro- 
pic is  now  more  heated  than  at  the  line,  it  afcends  by  decreafe  of  its  fpecific 
gravity,  and  floods  of  air  rufh  in  both  from  the  fouth-weft  and  north-eaft, 
and  thefe  being  one  warmer  than  the  other,  the  rain  is  precipitated  by  their 
mixture,  as  obferved  by  Dr.  Hutton.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XXV.  All 
late  travellers  have  afcribed  the  rife  of  the  Nile  to  the  monfoons  which  de- 
luge Nubia  and  Abyfiinia  with  rain.  The  whirling  of  the  afcending  air  was 
even  feen  by  Mr.  Bruce  in  Abyffinia:  he  fays,  "  Every  morning  a  fmall  cloud 
began  to  whirl  round,  and  prefently  after  the  whole  heavens  became  covered 
with  clouds."  By  this  vortex  of  afcending  air  the  N..  E.  winds  and  the  S. 
W.  winds,  which  flow  in  to  fupply  the  place  of  the  afcending  column,  be- 
came mixed  more  rapidly,  and  depofited  their  rain  in  greater  abundance. 

Mr.  Volney  obferves,  that  the  time  of  the  rifing  of  the  Nile  commences 
about  the  I9th  of  June;  and  that  Abyffinia  and  the  adjacent  parts  of  Africa 
arc  deluged  with  rain  in  May,  June,  and  July,  and  produce  a  mafs  of  water 
which  is  three  months  in  draining  off.  The  Abbe  Le  Pluche  obferves,  that 
as  Sirius,  or  the  dog-ftar,  rofe  at  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  the  flood, 
its  rifing  was  watched  by  the  aftronomers,  and  notice  given  of  the  approach 
of  inundation,  by  hanging  the  figure  of  Anubis,  which  was  that  of  a  man 
with  a  dog's  head,  upon  all  their  temples.  Hiftoire  de  Ciel. 

Egypt  's  ftoiver-lefs  lands,  1.  138.     There  feem  to  be  two  fituations  which 


?S  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

• — Her  long  canals  the  facred  waters  fill, 

And  edge  with  lilver  every  peopled  hill;  140 

Gigantic  SPHINX  in  circling  waves  admire, 

And  MEMNON  bending  o'er  his  broken  lyre; 

O'er  furrow 'd  glebes  and  green  favannas  fweep, 

And  towns  and  temples  laugh  amid  the  deep. 

V.   i.  "  High  in  the  frozen  North  where  HECLA  glows, 
And  melts  in  torrents  his  coeval  fnows;  146 

O'er  iiles  and  oceans  fheds  a  fangujne  light, 
Or  {hoots  red  flars  amid  the  ebon  night ; 
When,  at  his  bafe  intomb'd,  with  bellowing  found 
FeiiGiESAR  roar'd,  and,  ftruggling,  /hook  the  ground;     150 
Pour'd  from  red  noftrils,  with  her  fcalding  breath, 
A  boiling  deluge  o'er  the  blafted  heath ; 


jnay  be  conceived  to  be  exempted  from  ram  falling  upon  them ;  one  where 
the  conftant  trade-winds  meet  beneath  the  line,  for  here  two  regions  of  warm 
air  are  mixed  together,  and  thence  do  not  feem  to  have  any  caufe  to  preci- 
pitate their  vapour;  and  the  other  is,  where  the  winds  are  brought  from  col- 
der climates  and  become  warmer  by  their  contacl  with  the  earth  of  a  warmer 
one.  Thus  Lower  Egypt  is  a  flat  country  warmed  by  the  fun  more  than 
the  higher  lands  on  one  fide  of  it,  and  than  the  Mediterranean. on  the  other; 
and  hence  the  winds  which  blow  over  it  acquire  greater  warmth,  which  ever 
xvay  they  come,  than  they  poffefied  before,  and  in  confequence  have  a  ten- 
dency to  acquire  and  not  to  part  with  their  vapour,  like  the  north-caft  winds 
of  this  country.  There  is  faid  to  be  a  narrow  fpot  upon  the  coaft  of  Peru, 
\vhere  rain  feldom  occurs;  at  the  fame  time,  according  to  Ulloa,  on  the 
mountainous  regions  of  the  Andes,  beyond,  there  is  almoft  perpetual  rain, 
for  the  wind  blows  uniformly  upon  this  hot  part  of  the  coaft  of  Peru,  but  no 
caufe  of  devaporation  occurs  till  it  begins  to  afcend  the  mountainous  Andes, 
and  then  its  own  expanfion  produces  cold  fufficient  to  condenfe  its  vapour. 

Fell  Giefar  roar'd.  1. 150.  The  boiling  column  of  water  at  Giefar  in  Ice- 
land, was  nineteen  feet  in  diameter,  end  fcmetimes  rofe  to  the  height  of 
ninety-two  feet.  On  cooling,  it  depofited  a  filiceous  matter,  or  chalcedony, 
forming  a  bafon  round  its  bale.  The  heat  of  this  water  before  it  rofe  out 
of  the  earth  could  not  be  afcertained,  as  water  lofes  all  its  heat  above  ^1^ 
(as  foon  as  it  is  at  liberty  to  expand)  by  the  exhalation  of  a  part;  but  the 
flinty  bafon  which  is  depofited  from  it  fhews  that  water,  with  great  degrees 
of  heat,  will  diilblve  filiceous  matter.  Van  Troil's  Letters  on  Iceland. 
Since  the  above  account,  in  the  year  1780,  this  part  of  Iceland  has  been  de- 
ftroyed  by  an  earthquake,  or  covered  with  lava,  which  was  probably  effected 
by  the  force  of  aqueous  fteam,  a  greater  quantity  of  water  falling  on  the 
fubterraneous  fires  than  could  efcape  by  the  ancient  outlets,  and  generating 
an  increafed  quantity  of  vapour.  For  the  difpcrfion  of  contagious  vapours 
from  volcanos,  fee  an  account  of  the  Hdrmattan,  in  the  notes  on  Chunda, 
vol.  II, 


CANTO  III.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  79 

And,  wide  in  air,  in  mifty  volumes  hurl'd 

Contagious  atoms  o'er  the  alarmed  world  ; 

Nymphs  !  your  bold  myriads  broke  the  infernal  fpell,          155 

And  crudi'd  the  Sorcerefs  in  her  flinty  cell. 

2.  "  Where  with  foft  fires  in  unextinguifh'd  urns, 
Cauldron'd  in  rock,  innocuous  Lava  burns ; 
On  the  bright  lake  your  gelid  hands  diftil 
In  pearly  (howers  the  pariimonious  rill;  160 

And,  as  aloft  the  curling  vapours  rife 
Through  the  cleft  roof,  ambitious  for  the  fkies, 
In  vaulted  hills  condenfe  the  tepid  fleams, 
And  pour  to  Health  the  medicated  fti  earns. 
— So  in  green  vales  amid  her  mountains  bleak  165 

BUXTONIA  fmiles,  the  Goddefs-Nymph  of  Peak; 
Deep  in  warm  waves,  and  pebbly  baths  (he  dwells, 
And  calls  HYGEIA  to  her  fainted  wells. 

"  Hither  in  fportive  bands  bright  DEVON  leads 
Graces  and  Loves  from  Chatfworth's  flowery  meads.        170 
Charm'd  round  the  Nymph,  they  climb  the  rifted  rocks; 
And  fteep  in  mountain-mift  their  golden  locks; 
On  venturous  ftep  her  fparry  caves  explore, 
And  light  with  radiant  eyes  her  realms  of  ore: 
— Oft  by  her  bubbling  founts,  and  fhadowy  domes,  175 

In  gay  undrefs  the  fairy  legion  roams, 
Their  dripping  palms  in  playful  malice  fill, 
Or  tafte  with  ruby  lip  the  fparkling  rill ; 
Croud  round  her  baths,  and,  bending  o'er  the  fide, 
Unclafp'd  their  fandals,  and  their  zones  untied,  180 

Dip  with  gay  fear  the  fhuddering  toot  undrefs'd, 
And  quick  retra£t  it  to  the  fringed  veft; 

Buxtonia  fmiles.  I.  166.  Some  arguments  are  mentioned  in  the  note  on 
Fucus,  vol.  II.  to  (hew  that  the  warm  fprings  of  this  country  do  not  arife 
from  the  decompofrtion  of  pyrites  near  the  furface  of  the  earth,  but  that 
they  are  produced  by  fteam  rifing  up  the  fiflures  of  the  mountains  from 
great  depths,  owing  to  water  falling  on  fubterraheous  fires,  and  that  this 
fteam  is  condenfed  between  the  ftrata  of  the  incumbent  mountains,  and  col- 
lected into  fprings.  For  further  proofs  on  this  fubjedl  the  reader  is  referred 
to  a  letter  from  Dr.  Darwin  in  Mr.  Pilkington's  View  of  Derbyfhire,  vol.  I. 
p.  2j6. 


So  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Or  cleave  with  brandiuYd  arms  the  lucid  ftream, 

And  fob,  their  blue  eyes  twinkling  in  the  fleam. 

— High  o'er  the  chequer'd  vault  with  tranfient  glow  185 

Bright  hi  (Ire's  dart,  as  dafh  the  waves  below ; 

And  Echo's  fweet  refponfive  voice  prolongs 

The  dulcet  tumult  of  their  filver  tongues. — 

O'er  their  fiulh'd  cheeks  uncurling  trefles  flow, 

And  dew-drops  glitter  on  their  necks  of  fnow;  190 

Round  each  fair  Nymph  her  dropping  mantle  clings, 

And  Loves  emerging  {hake  their  fhowery  wings. 

•'  Here  oft  her  LORD  furveys  the  rude  domain, 
Fair  arts  of  Greece  triumphant  in  his  train ; 
Lo !  as  he  fteps,  the  column'd  pile  afcends,  ig$ 

The  blue  roof  clofes,  or  the  crefcent  bends ; 
New  woods  afpiring  clothe  their  hills  with  green, 
Smooth  flope  the  lawns,  the  grey  rock  peeps  between ; 
Relenting  Nature  gives  her  hand  to  Tafte, 
And  Health  and  Beauty  crown  the  laughing  wafle.  200 


And  fob)  ilelr  blue  eyes.  1.  184.  The  bath  at  Buxton  being  of  82  degrees 
bf  heat,  is  called  a  warm  bath,  and  is  fo  compared  with  common  fpring- 
water,  which  poffeffes  but  48  degrees  of  heat,  but  is  neverthelefs  a  cold  bath 
compared  to  the  heat  of  the  body,  which  is  98.  On  going  into  this  bath 
there  is  therefore  always  a  chill  perceived  at  the  firil  immeriion ;  but  after 
having  been  in  it  a  minute,  the  chill  ceafes,  and  a  fenfation  of  warmth  fuc- 
cceds,  though  the  body  continues  to  be  immerfed  in  the  water.  The  caufe 
of  this  curious  phenomenon  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  laws  of  animal  fenfa- 
tion, and  not  from  any  properties  of  heat.  When  a  perfon  goes  from  clear 
day-light  into  an  obfcure  room,  for  a  while  it  appears  gloomy,  which  gloom, 
however,  in  a  little  time  ceafes,  and  the  deficiency  of  light  becomes  no  lon- 
ger perceived.  This  is  not  folely  owing  to  the  enlargement  of  the  iris  of  the 
eye,  fmce  that  is  performed  in  an  inftant,  but  to  this  law  of  fenfation,  that 
when  a  lefs  ftimulus  is  applied  (within  certain  bounds)  the  fenfibility  in- 
creafes.  Thus,  at  going  into  a  bath  as  much  colder  than  the  body  as  that  of 
Buxton,  the  diminution  of  .heat  on  the  fkin  is  at  firft  perceived;  but  in  about 
a  minute  the  fenfibility  to  heat,  increafes  and  the  nerves  of  the  fldn  are  equally 
excited  by  the  leffened  ftimulus.  The  fenfation  of  warmth  at  emerging  from 
a  cold  bath,  and  the  pain  called  the  hot-ach,  after  the  hands  have  been  im- 
merfed in  fnow,  depend  on  the  fame  principle,  viz.  the  increafed  fenfibility 
of  the  ikin  after  having  been  previoufly  expofed  to  a  ftimulus  lefs  than  ufual. 

Here  oft  her  Lord.  1.  193.  Alluding  to  the  magnificent  and  beautiful  cref- 
cent, and  fuperb  (tables  lately  erected  at  Buxton,  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  company,  by  the  Duke  of  Devonfhire;  and  to  the  plantations  with  which 
he  has  decorated  the  furrounding  mountains. 


CAi*ToIII.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  8i 

VI.  "  Nymphs  !  your  bright  fquadrons  watch  with  chemic 

eyes 

The  cohkelaftic  vapours,  as  they  rife ; 
With  playful  force  aired  them  as  they  pafs, 
.And  to  pure  AIR  betroth  the  flaming  GAS. 
Round  their  tranflucent  forms  at  once  they  fling  20$ 

Their  rapturous  arms,  with  iilver  bofoms  cling  j 
In  fleecy  clouds  their  fluttering  wings  extend, 
Or  from  the  (kies  in  lucid  fliowers  defcend ; 
Whence  rills  and  rivers  owe  their  fecret  birth. 
And  Ocean's  hundred  arms  infold  the  earth.  210 

"  So,  robed  by  Beauty's  Queen,  with  (bfter  charms 
SATURNIA  woo'd  the  Thunderer  to  her  arms; 
O'er  her  fair  limbs  a  veil  of  light  (he  fpread, 
And  bound  a  ftarry  diadem  on  her  head ; 
Long  braids  of  pearl  her  golden  trefles  grac'd,  215 

And  the  charm'd  CESTUS  fparkled  round  her  waift. 
— Raifed  o'er  the  woof,  by  Beauty's  hand  inwrought, 
'Breathes  the  foft  Sigh,  and  glows  the  enamour'd  Thought; 
Vows  on  light  wings  fucceed,  and  quiver'd  Wiles, 
Affbafive  Accents,  and  fedu6r.ive  Smiles.  220 


And  to  pure  air.  1.  204.  Until  very  lately  water  was  efteemed  a  fimple 
clement;  nor  are  all  the  moft  celebrated  chemifts  of  Europe  yet  converts  to 
the  new  opinion  of  its  decompofition.  Mr.  Lavoifier,  and  others  of  the 
French  fchool,  have  moft  ingenioufly  endeavoured  to  fhew,  that  water  con- 
Ms -of  pure  air,  called  by  them  oxygene,  and  of  inflammable  air,  called  hy- 
drogene,  with  as  much  of  the  matter  of  heat,  or  calorique,  as  is  necefiary 
to  preferve  them  in  the  form  of  gas.  Gas  is  diftinguifhed  from  fteam  by 
its  preferving  its  elafticity  under  the  preffure  of  the  atmofphere,  and  in  the 
greateft  degrees  of  cold  yet  known.  The  hiftory  of  the  progrefs  of  this 
great  difcovery  is  detailed  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal  Academy  for  1781, 
and  the  experimental  proofs  of  it  are  delivered  in  Lavoifier's  Elements  of 
Chemiilry.  The  refults  of  which  are,  that  water  confifts  of  eighty-five, 
parts,  by  weight,  of  oxygene,  and  fifteen  parts,  by  weight,  of  hydrogene, 
•with  a  fuflicient  quantity  of  calorique.  Not  only  numerous  chemical  phe- 
nomena, but  many  atmofphe'rical  and  vegetable  fadts  receive  clear  and  beau- 
tiful elucidation  from  this  important  analyfis.  In  the  atmofphere,  inflam- 
mable air  is  probably  perpetually  uniting  with  vital  air,  and  producing 
moifture,  which  defcends  in  dews  arid  fhdwers ;  while  the  growth  of  vege- 
tables, by  the  afiiftance  of  light,  is  perpetually  again  decompofmg  the  water 
they  imbibe  from  the  earth,  and  while  they  retain  the  inflammable  air  for 
the  formation  of  oils,  wax,  honey,  refin,  &c.  they  give  up  the  vital  air  t» 
replenifn  the  utmofphcre* 

PART  1.  M 


82  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

— Slow  rolls  the  Cyprian  car  in  purple  pride, 

And,  ileer'd  by  LOVE,  afcends  admiring  Ide; 

Climbs  the  green  flopes,  the  nodding  woods  pervades, 

Burns  round  the  rocks,  or  gleams  amid  the  fhades. — 

Glad  ZEPHYR  leads  the  van,  and  waves  above  225 

The  barbed  darts,  and  blazing  torch  of  Love ; 

Reverts  his  fmiling  face,  and  paufmg  flings 

Soft  fhowers  of  rofes  from  aurelian  wings. 

Delighted  Fawns,  in  wreathes  of  flowers  array 'd, 

With  tiptoe  Wood -Boys  beat  the  chequer'd  glade;  250 

Alarmed  Naiads,  rifing  into  air$ 

Lift  o'er  their  filver  urns  their  leafy  hair; 

Each  to  her  oak  the  baftiful  Dryads  fhrink, 

And  azure  eyes  are  feen  at  every  chink. 

— LOVE  culls  a  flaming  {haft  of  broadeft  wing,  235 

And  refts  the  fork  upon  the  quivering  firing; 

Points  his  arch  eye  aloft,  with  ringers  ftrong 

Draws  to  his  curled  ear  the  filken  thong; 

Loud  twangs  the  fteel,  the  golden  arrow  flies, 

Trails  a  long  line  of  luftre  through  the  ikies ;  240 

"  'Tis  done!"  he  fhouts,  "  the  mighty  Monarch  feels!" 

And  with  loud  laughter  fhakes  the  fjlver  wheels ; 

Bends  o'er  the  car,  and  whirling,  as  it  moves, 

His  loofenM  bowftring,  drives  the  rifing  doves. 

— Pierced  on  his  throne  the  ftarting  Thunderer  turns,        245 

Melts  with  foft  fighs,  with  kindling  rapture  burns; 

Clafps  her  fair  hand,  and  eyes  in  fond  amaze 

The  bright  Intruder  with  enamour'd  gaze. 

"  And  leaves  my  Goddefs,  like  a  blooming  bride, 

"  The  fanes  of  Argos  for  the  rocks  of  Ide?  250 

"  Her  gorgeous  palaces,  and  amaranth  bowers, 

"  For  clifF-top'd  mountains,  and  aerial  towers?" 

He  faid;  and,  leading  from  her  ivory  feat 

The  blufhing  beauty  to  his  lone  retreat, 


And  JlteSd  by  Love.  1.  222.  The  younger  Love,  or  Cupid,  the  fon  of 
Venus,  owes  his  exiftence  and  his  attributes  to  much  later  times  than  the 
Eros,  or  Divine  Love,  mentioned  in  Canto  I.  fmce  the  former  is  no  where 
mentioned  by  Homer,  though  fo  many  apt  opportunities  of  introducing  him 
eccur  in  the  works  of  that  immortal  bard.  Bacon. 


CANTO  III.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  83 

CurtainM  with  night  the  couch  imperial  fhroucls,  255 

And  refts  the  crimfon  cushions  upon  clouds. — 

Earth  feels  the  grateful  influence  from  above, 

Sighs  the  foft  Air,  and  Ocean  murmurs  love; 

Ethereal  Warmth  expands  his  brooding  wing, 

And  in  (till  ihowers  defcends  the  genial  Spring,  260 

VII.   "  Nymphs  of  aquatic  Tafte  !  whofe  placid  fmilc 
Breathes  fweet  enchantment  o'er  BRITANNIA'S  iflej 
Whofe  fportive  touch  in  ihowers  refplendent  flings 
Her  lucid  cataracts,  and  her  bubbling  fprings ; 
Through  peopled  vales  the  liquid  filver  guides,  265 

And  fwells  in  bright  expanfe  her  freighted  tides. 
You  with  nice  ear,  in  tiptoe  trains,  pervade 
Dim  walks  of  morn  or  evening's  filent  {hade; 
Join  the  lone  Nightingale,  her  woods  among, 
And  roll  your  rills  fymphonious  to  her  fong;  270 

Through  fount- full  dells,  and  wave- worn  valleys  move, 
And  tune  their  echoing  waterfalls  to  love; 
Or  catch,  attentive  to  the  diftant  roar, 
The  paufmg  murmurs  of  the  dafhing  fhore ; 
Or,  as  aloud  {lie  pours  her  liquid  flrain,  275 

Purfue  the  NEREID  on  the  twilight  main. 
— Her  playful  Sea-horfe  woos  her  foft  commands, 
Turns  his  quick  ears,  his  webbed  claws  expands, 

And  in  fill flowers.  1.  260.  The  allegorical  interpretation  of  the  very  an- 
cient mythology,  which  fuppofes  Jupiter  to  reprefent  the  fuperior  part  of 
the  atmofphere  or  ether,  and  Juno  the  inferior  air,  and  that  the  con- 
jundion  of  thefe  two  produces  vernal  fhowers,  as  alluded  to  in  Virgil's 
Georgics,  is  fo  analogous  to  the  prefent  important  difcovery  of  the  produc- 
tion of  water  from  pure  air,  or  oxygene,  and  inflammable  air,  or  hydrogene, 
(which,  from  its  greater  levity,  probably  refides  over  the  former,)  that  one 
fliould  be  tempted  to  believe,  that  the  very  ancient  chemifts  of  Egypt  had 
difcovered  the  compofition  of  water,  and  thus  reprefented  it  in  their  hiero- 
glyphic figures  before  the  invention  of  letters. 

In  the  pafTage  of  Virgil,  Jupiter  is  called  ether,  and  defcends  in  prolific 
fhowers  on  the  bofom  of  Juno,  whence  the  fpring  fucceeds,  and  all  nature 
rejoices. 

Turn  pater  omnipotens  fcecundis  imbribus  Ether 
Conjugis  in  gremium  laetse  defcendit,  et  omnes 
Magnus  alit,  magno  commixtus  corpore,  fcetus. 

Virg.  Georg.  Lib.  II.  1,  315. 
Her  playful  Sea-borfe.  1.  277.    Defcribed  from  an  antique  gem. 


84  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

His  watery  way  with  waving  volutes  wins, 
Or  liftening  librates  on  unmoving  fins.  2  So 

The  Nymph  emerging  mounts  her  fcaly  feat, 
Hangs  o'er  his  glofly  fide,s  her  filver  feet, 
With  fnow-white  hands  her  arching  veil  detains, 
Gives  to  his  flimy  lips  the  flacken'd  reins, 
Lifts  to  the  ftar  of  Eve  her  eye  ferene,  285 

And  chaunts  the  birth  of  Beauty's  radiant  Queen.  — 
O'er  her  fair  brow  her  pearly  comb  unfurls 
Her  beryl  locks,  and  parts  the  waving  curls, 
Each  tangled  braid  with  gliflening  teeth  unbinds, 
And  with  the  floating  treafure  mulks  the  winds.  —  •  290 

Thrill'd  by  the  dulcet  accents,  as  fhe  fings, 
The  rippling  wave  in  widening  circles  rings  • 
Night's  (hadowy  forms  along  the  margin  gleam 
With  pointed  ears,  or  dance  upon  the  ftream  ; 
The  Moon  tranfported  flays  her  bright  career,  295 

maddening  Stars  flioot  headlong  from  the  fphere. 


VIII.  "  Nymphs  !  whofe  fair  eyes  with  vivid  luftres  glow 
For  human  weal,  and  melt  at  human  woe; 
Late  as  you  floated  on  your  filver  fhells, 
Sorrowing  and  flow  by  DERWENT'S  willowy  dells;         300 
Where  by  tall  groves  his  foamy  flood  he  fteers 
Through  ponderous  arches  o'er  impetuous  wears, 
By  DERBY'S  fhadowy  towers  reflective  fweeps, 
And  gothic  grandeur  chills  his  dulky  deeps  ; 
You  pearl'd  with  Pity's  drops  his  velvet  iides,  305 

Sigh'd  in  his  gales,  and  murmur'd  in  his  tides, 
Waved  o'er  his  fringed  brink  a  deeper  gloom, 
And  bow'd  his  alders  o'er  MILCENA'S  tomb. 

"  Oft  with  fweet  voice  She  led  her  infant-train, 
Printing  with  graceful  ftep  his  fpangled  plain,  3^O 

Explored  his  twinkling  fwarms,  that  fwim  or  fly, 
And  mark'd  his  florets  with  botanic  eye.  — 

OV  Mihenas  tomb.  1.  308.  In  memory  of  Mrs.  French,  a  lady  who,  to 
many  other  elegant  acccmplifhments,  added  a  proficiency  in  botany  and  na- 
tural hiilory. 


CANTO  III.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  85 

"  Sweet  bud  of  Spring !  how  frail  thy  tranfient  bloom, 

"  Fine  film,"  &e  cr»ed>  "  °f  Nature's  faireft  loom ! 

tf  Soon  Beauty  fades  upon  its  damafk  throne!'' —  315 

• — Unconfcious  of  the  worm,  that  mined  her  own ! — 

' — Pale  are  thofe  lips,  where  foft  careffes  hung, 

Wan  the  warm  cheek,  and  mute  the  tender  tongue, 

Cold  refts  that  feeling  heart  on  DERWENT'S  fhore, 

And  thofe  love-lighted  eye-balls  roll  no  more  !  320 

"  Here  her  fad  Confort,  dealing  through  the  gloom 
Of  murmuring  cloyfters,  gazes  on  her  tomb ; 
Hangs  in  mute  anguiih  o'er  the  fcutcheon'd  hearfe, 
Or  graves  with  trembling  ftyle  the  votive  verfe. 

"  Sexton !  oh,  lay  beneath  this  facred  fhrine,  325 

"  When  Time's  cold  hand  (hall  clofe  my  aching  eyes, 

"  Oh,  gently  lay  this  wearied  earth  of  mine, 

"  Where  wrap'd  in  night  my  loved  MILCENA  lies. 

"  So  (hall  with  purer  joy  my  fpirit  move 

"  When  the  laft  trumpet  thrills  the  caves  of  Death,  330 
f  Catch  the  firft  whifpers  of  my  waking  love, 

"  And  drink  with  holy  kifs  her  kindling  breath, 

'*  The  fpotlefs  Fair,  with  bluih  ethereal  warm,  •-,*.*  ' 
"  Shall  hail  with  fweeter  fmile  returning  day, 

"  Rife  from  her  marble  bed  a  brighter  form,  333 

"  And  win  on  buoyant  ftep  her  airy  way. 

"  Shall  bend  approved,  where  beckoning  hofts  invite, 

"  On  clouds  of  iilver,  her  adoring  knee, 
"  Approach  with  Seraphim  the  throne  of  light, 

"  — And  Beauty  plead  with  angel-tongue  for  Me !"     340 

IX.  "  Your  virgin  trains  on  BR IN D LEY'S  cradle  fmiled, 
And  nurfed  with  fairy-love  the  unletter'd  child, 

On  Brindhy's  cradle  fmiled.  1.  341.  The  life  of  Mr.  Brindley,  tvhofe  great 
abilities  in  the  conftrudion  of  canal  navigation  were  called  forth  by  the  pa- 
tronage of  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater,  rnay  be  read  in  Dr.  Kippis's  Biogra- 


85  BOTANIC  GARDEN".  PART  I. 

Spread  round  his  pillow  all  your  fecret  fpells, 

Pierced  all  your  fprings,  and  open'd  all  your  wells. — 

As  now  on  grafs,  with  gloffy  folds  reveal'd,  345 

Glides  the  bright  ferpent,  now  in  flowers  conceal'd ; 

Far  fhine  the  fcales,  that  gild  his  finuous  back, 

And  lucid  undulations  mark  his  track ; 

So  with  ftrong  arm  immortal  BRINDLEY  leads 

His  long  canals,  and  parts  the  velvet  meads  j  350 

Winding  in  lucid  lines,  the  watery  mafs 

Mines  the  firm  rock,  or  loads  the  deep  morafs, 

With  riling  locks  a  thoufand  hills  alarms, 

Flings  o'er  a  thoufand  ftreams  its  filver  arms, 

Feeds  the  long  vale,  the  nodding  woodland  laves,  355 

And  Plenty,  Arts,  and  Commerce  freight  the  waves. 

- — Nymphs!  who  erewhile  round  BRINDLEY'S  early  bier 

On  mow-white  bofoms  fhower'd  the  incefiant  tear, 

Adorn  his  tomb ! — oh,  raife  the  marble  buft, 

Proclaim  his  honours,  and  prote6t  his  duft  !  360 

With  urns  inverted,  round  the  facred  fhrine 

Their  ozier  wreaths  let  weeping  Naiads  twine; 

While  on  the  top  MECHANIC  GENIUS  ftands, 

Counts  the  fleet  waves,  and  balances  the  lands. 

X.  "  Nymphs  /  you  firfl  taught  to  pierce  the  fecret  caves 
Of  humid  earth,  and  lift  her  ponderous  waves;  366 

phia  Eritannica ;  the  excellence  of  his  genius  is  vifible  in  every  part  of  this 
ifland.  He  died  at  Turnhurft,  in  Staffordfhire,  in  1772,  and  ought  to  have 
a  monument  in  the  cathedral  church  at  Licbfield. 

Lift  ler  ponderous  ivaves.  1.  366.  The  invention  of  the  pump  is  of  very 
ancient  date,  being  afcribed  to  one  Ctel'ebes,  an  Athenian,  whence  it  was 
called  by  the  Latins  machina  Ctefebiana;  but  it  was  long  before  it  was 
known  that  the  afcent  of  the  piilon  lifted  the  fuperincumbent  column  of  the 
atmofphere,  and  that  then  the  preflurc  of  the  furrounding  air,  on  the  furface 
of  the  well  belo\v,  forced  the  water  up  into  the  vacuum,  and  that,  on  that 
account,  in  the  common  lifting  pump,  the  water  would  rife  only  about 
thirty-five  feet,  as  the  weight  of  fuch  a  column  of  water  was,  in  general,  an 
equipoife  to  the  furrounding  atmofphere.  The  foamy  appearance  of  water, 
when  the  preffure  of  the  air  over  it  is  diminifhed,  is  owing  to  the  expanfion 
and  efcape  of  the  air  previoufiy  diffolved  by  it,  or  exifting  in  its  pores. — 
When  a  child  firft  fucks,  it  only  preffes  or  champs  the  teat,  as  oblerved  by 
the  great  Harvey,  but  afterwards  it  learns  to  make  an  incipient  vacuum  in 
its  mouth,  and  acis,  by  removing  the  preffure  of  the  atmoiphere  from  the 
nipple,  like  a  pump. 


CANTO  III.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  87 

Bade  with  quick  ftroke  the  fliding  piftou  bear 

The  viewlefs  columns  of  incumbent  air ; — 

Prefs'd  by  the  incumbent  air  the  floods  below, 

Through  opening  valves  in  foaming  torrents  flow,  370 

Foot  after  foot  with  leffen'd  impulfe  move, 

And  riling  feek  the  vacancy  above. — 

So  when  the  Mother,  bending  o'er  his  charms, 

Clafps  her  fair  nurfeling  in  delighted  arms; 

Throws  the  thin  kerchief  from  her  neck  of  fnow,  37$ 

And  half  unveils  the  pearly  orbs  below; 

With  fparkling  eye  the  blamelefs  Plunderer  owns 

Her  foft  embraces,  and  endearing  tones,   . 

Seeks  the  falubrious  fount  with  opening  lips, 

Spreads  his  inquiring  hands,  and  fmiles,  and  fips.  380 

"  Connubial  Fair  f  whom  no  fond  tranfport  warms 
To  lull  your  infant  in  maternal  arms ; 
Who,  blefs'd  in  vain  with  tumid  bofoms,  hear 
His  tender  wailings  with  unfeeling  ear; 
The  foothing  kifs  and  milky  rill  deny,  385 

To  the  fweet  pouting  lip,  and  gliftening  eye  I—- 
Ah !  what  avails  the  cradle's  damalk  roof, 
The  eider  bolfter,  and  embroider'd  woof  !-*— 
Oft  hears  the  gilded  couch  unpiry'd  plains, 
And  many  a  tear  the  taflel'd  cufhion  flains !  390 

No  voice  fo  fweet  attunes  his  cares  to  reft, 
So  foft  no  pillow  as  his  Mother's  breaft ! — 
— Thus  charrn'd  to  fweet  repofe,  when  twilight  hours 
Shed  theii  foft  influence  on  celeftial  bowers, 
The  Cherub,  Innocence,  with  fmile  divine  395 

Shuts  his  white  wings,  arid  fleeps  on  Beauty's  fhrine. 

XL  "  From  dome  to  dome  when  flames  infuriate  climb, 
Sweep  the  long  (rreet,  invert  the  tower  fublime ; 
Gild  the  tall  vanes  amid  the  aftonim'd  night, 
And  reddening  heaven  returns  the  fanguine  light;  400 

Ah!  ivhat  avails.  1.  387.     From"  an  elegant  little  poem  of  Mr.  Jetning- 
ham's,  entitled  II  Latte,  exhorting  ladies  to  mufc  their  own  children. 


88  BOTANIC  GARDEN".  PART!, 

While  with  vaft  ftrides  and  briftling  hair  aloof 

Pale  Danger  glides  along  the  falling  roof; 

And  Giant  Terror,  howling  in  amaze, 

JVtoves  his. dark  limbs  acrofs  the  lurid  blaze. 

Nymphs  !  you  fir  ft  taught  the  gelid  wave  to  rife,  405; 

Hmi'd  in  refplendent  arches  to  the  ikies ; 

In  iron  cells  condenfed  the  airy  fpring, 

And  imp'd  the  torrent  with  unfailing  wing; 

;; — On  the  fierce  flames  the  fliower  impetuous  falls, 

And  fudden  darknefs  fhrouds  the  fliatter'd  walls;  410 

Steam,  fmoke,  and  duft,  in  blended  volumes  roll, 

And  Night  and  Silence  repoflefs  the  Pole. — 

«  Where  we're  ye,  Nymphs  !  in  thofe  difafterous  hours, 
Which  wrap'd  in  flames  AUGUSTA'S  (inking  towers? 
Why  did  ye  linger  in  your  wells  and  groves,  415 

When  fad  WOODMASON  mourn'd  her  infant  loves? 
When  thy  fair  Daughters  with  unheeded  fcreams, 
Ill-fated  MOLESWORTH  !  call'd  the  loitering  dreams  !— 
(The  trembling  Nymph,  on  bloodlefs  ringers  hung, 
Eyes  from  the  tottering  wall  the  diftant  throng,  420 

With  ceafelefs  (hrieks  her  fleeping  friends  alarms, 
Drops  with  finged  hair  into  her  lover's  arms. — 

HurTd  hi  refp'cndext  arckes.  1.  406.  The  addition  of  an  air-cell  to  ma- 
cKines  for  railing  water  to  extinguifh  fire,  was  firft  introduced  by  Mr. 
Ncwfham,  of  London,  and  is  now  applied  to  fimilar  engines  for  wafhing 
wall-trees  in  gardens,  and  to  all  kinds  of  forcing  pumps,  and  might  be  ap- 
plied, with  advantage,  to  lifting  pumps,  where  the  water  is  brought  from 
a  great  diftahce  horizontally.  Another  kind  of  machine  was  invented  by 
one  Greyl,  in  which  a  vellel  cf  water  was  every  way  difperfed  by  the  ex- 
plofion  of  gun-powder  lodging  in  the  centre  of  it,  and  lighted  by  an  adapted 
match ;  from  this  idea  Air.  Godfrey  propoied  a  water-bomb  of  fimilar  con- 
ftruclion.  Dr.  Hales,  to  prevent  the  Ipreading  of  fire,  propofed  to  cover 
the  floors  and  flairs  of  the  adjoining  houfes  with  earth:  Mr.  Hartley 
propofed  to  prevent  houfes  from  taking  fire,  by  covering  the  cieling  with 
thin  iron  plates;  and  Lord  Mahon,  by  a  bed  of  coarfe  moitar,  or  plaifter, 
between  the  cieling  and  floor  above  it.  May  not  this  age  of  chemical  fci- 
ence  difcover  fome  method  of  injeding  or  foaking  timber  with  lime-water, 
and  afterwards  with  vitriolic  acid,  and  thus  fill  its  pores  with  alabafter? 
ftr  of  penetrating  it  with  filiceous  matter,  by  proceffes  fimilar  to  thofe  of 
Bergman  and  Achard  ?  See  Cronftedt's  Mineral,  ad  edit.  vol.  I.  p.  222. 

Woodmafin.  Moltfivortb.  1.  416,  418.  The  hiftories  of  thefe  unfortu- 
nate families  may  be  fecn  in  the  Annual  Regifter,  or  in  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine. 


CANTO  III.      ECONOMY  OF  VkGETATIOtf.  89 

The  illumin'd  Mother  feeks  with  footfteps  fleet, 

Where  hangs  the  fafe  balcony  o'er  the  ftreet ; 

Wrap'd  in  her  fheet  her  youngeft  hope  fufpends*  425 

And  panting  lowers  it  to  her  tiptoe  friends ; 

Again  (lie  hurries  on  Affection's  wings, 

And  now  a  third,  and  now  a  fourth,  fhe  hrings ; 

Safe  all  her  babes,  (he  ftnooths  her  horrent  brow, 

And  burfts  through  bickering  flames,  unfcorch'd,  below. 

So,  by  her  Son  arraigned,  with  feet  uniliod  431 

O'er  burning  bars  indignant  Emma  trod. 

"  E'en  on  the  day  when  Youth  with  Beauty  wed, 
The  flames  furprifed  them  in  their  nuptial  bed; — 
Seen  at  the  opening  fafh  with  bofoin  bare, 
With  wringing  hands,  and  dark  clifhevel'd  hair, 
The  blufhing  Bride,  with  wild  diforder'd  charms, 
Round  her  fond  lover  winds  her  ivory  arms; 
Beat,  as  they  clafp,  their  throbbing  hearts  with  fear, 
And  many  a  kifs  is  mix'd  with  many  a  tear; —  440 

Ah  me !  in  vain  the  labouring  engines  pour 
Round  their  pale  limbs  the  ineffectual  fhower ! — 
— Then  crafh'd  the  floor,  while  fhrinking  crouds  retire* 
And  Love  and  Virtue  funk  amid  the  fire ! — 
With  piercing  fcreams  afflicted  Grangers  mourn,  445 

And  their  white  allies  mingle  in  their  urn* 

XIL  "  Pellucid  Forms  !  whofe  cryftal  bofoms  fhow 
The  fhine  of  welfare,  or  the  fhade  of  woe; 
Who  with  foft  lips  falute  returning  Spring, 
And  hail  the  Zephyr  quivering  on  his  wing ;  450 

Or  watch,  untired,  the  wintery  clouds,  and  fhare 
With  dreaming  eyes  my  vegetable  care ; 
Go,  (hove  the  dim  mift  from  the  mountain's  brow, 
Chafe  the  white  fog,  which  floods  the  vale  below; 
Melt  the  thick  fnows,  that  linger  on  the  lands, 
And  catch  the  hail-ftoncs  in  your  little  hands  j 

Shove  the  dim  mjjl.  1.  453.     See  note  on  1.  30  of  this  Canto. 
Catch  the  liail-Jlones,  1.  456.     See  note  on  1.  ij  of  this  Canto. 

PART  I.  N 


90  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Guard  the  coy  bloflbm  from  the  pelting  (hovver, 

And  dim  the  rimy  fpangles  from  the  bower  3 

From  each  chill  leaf  the  lilvery  drops  repel, 

And  clofe  the  timorous  floret's  golden  bell.  460 

"  So  mould  young  Sympathy^  in  female  fornij 
Climb  the  tall  rock,  fpe&atrefs  of  the  ftorm ; 
Life's  finking  wrecks  with  fecret  fighs  -deplore, 
And  bleed  for  others'  woes,  Herfelf  on  more; 

From  each  chill  leaf.  1.  459.  The  upper  fide  of  the  leaf  is  the  organ  of 
vegetable  refpiration,  as  explained  in  the  additional  notes,  No.  XXXVII. 
hence  the  leaf  is  liable  to  injury  from  much  moifture  on  this  furface,  and  is 
deftroyed  by  being  fmeared  with  oil,  in  thefe  refpects  refembling  the  lungs 
of  animals,  or  the  fpiracula  of  infects.  To  prevent  thefe  injuries,  fome 
leaves  repel  the  dew-drops  from  their  upper  furfaces,  as  thofe  of  cabbages; 
other  vegetables  clofe  the  upper  furfaces  of  their  leaves  together  in  the  night, 
or  in  wet  weather,  as  the  fenfitive  plant;  others  only  hang  their  leaves 
downwards,  fo  as  to  fhoot  the  wet  from  them,  as  kidney-beans,  and  many 
trees.  See  note  on  L  1 8  of  this  Canto. 

Golden  bell,  1.  460.  There  are  mufcles  placed  about  the  foot-ftalks  of  the 
leaves  or  leaflets  of  many  plants,  for  the  purpofe  of  clofing  their  upper  fur- 
faces  together,  or  of  bending  them  down  fb  as  to  fhoot  off  the  fhowers  or 
dew-drops,  as  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note,  The  claws  of  the  petals, 
or  of  the  divifions  of  the  calyx  of  many  flowers,  are  furnifhed  in  a  fimilar 
manner  with  mufcles,  which  are  exerted  to  open  or  clofe  the  corol  and 
calyx  of  the  flower,  as  in  tragopogon,  anemone;  This  action  of  opening 
and  clofing  the  leaves  or  flowers,  does  not  appear  to  be  produced  fimply  by 
irritation  on  the  mufcles  themfelves,  but  by  the  connection  of  thofe  mufcles 
with  a  fenfitive  fehibrium,  or  brain,  exifting  in  each  individual  bud  or  flower. 
111.  Becaufe  many  flowers  clofe  from  the  defect  of  ftimulus,  not  by  the  ex- 
cefs  of  it,  as  by  darknefs,  which  is  the  abfence  of  the  ftimulus  of  light;  or 
by  cold,  which  is  the  abfence  of  the  ftimulus  of  heat.  Now,  the  defect  of 
heat,  or  the  abfence  of  focd,  or  of  drink,  affects  our  feiifations,  which  had 
been  previoufly  accuftomed  to  a  greater  quantity  of  them;  but  a  mufcle  can* 
not  be  faid  to  be  ftimulated  into  action  by  a  defect  of  ftimulus.  2d.  Becaufe 
the  mufcles  around  the  foot-ftalks  of  the  fubdivifions  of  the  leaves  of  the 
fenfitive  plant  are  exerted  when  any  injury  is  offered  to  the  other  extremity 
of  the  leaf,  and  fome  of  the  ftamens  of  the  flowers  of  the  clafs  Syngenefia, 
contract  themfelves  when  others  are  irritated.  See  note  on  Chondrilla,  vol. 
II.  o£  this  work. 

From  this  circumftance,  the  contraction  of  the  mufdesof  vegetables  feems 
to  depend  on  a  difagreeable  fenfation  in  fome  diftant  part,  and  nor  on  the 
irritation  of  the  mufcles  themfelves.  Thus,  when  a  particle  of  duft  ftimu* 
lates  the  ball  of  the  eye,  the  eye-lids  are  inftantly  clofed,  and  when  too 
niuch  light  pains  the  retina,  the  mufcles  of  the  iris  contract  its  aperture,  and 
this  not  by  any  connection  or  confent  of  the  nerves  of  thofe  parts,  but  as 
an  effort  to  prevent  or  to  remove  a  difagreeable  fenfation,  which  evinces 
that  vegetables  are  endued  with  fenfation,  or  that  each  bud  has  a  common 
fenforium,  and  is  furnifhed  with  a  brain,  or  a  central  place,  where  its  nerves 
are  conne&ed* 


CANTO  III.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  91 

To  friendlefs  Virtue,  gafping  on  the  ftrand,  465 

Bare  her  warm  heart,  her  virgin  arms  expand, 

Charm  with  kind  looks,  with  tender  accents  cheer, 

And  pour  the  fweet  condolatory  tear; 

Grief's  curelefs  wounds  with  lenient  balms  afTwage, 

Or  prop  with  firmer  ftafF  the  fteps  of  Age;  470 

The  lifted  arm  of  mute  Defpair  arreft, 

And  fnatch  the  dagger  pointed  at  his  breaft; 

Or  lull  to  flumber  Envy's  haggard  mien, 

And  rob  her  quiver'd  ihafts  with  hand  unfeen. 

—  Sound,  Nymphs  of  HELICON  !  the  trump  of  Fame,       475 

And  teach  Hibernian  echoes  JONES'S  name; 

Bind  round  her  polifh'd  brow  the  civic  bay, 

And  drag  the  fair  Philanthropift  to  day.  — 

So  from  fecluded  fprings,  and  fecret  caves, 

Her  Liffy  pours  his  bright  meandering  waves,  480 

Cools  the  pnrch'd  vale,  the  fultry  mead  divides, 

And  towns  and  temples  ftar  his  fhadowy  fides. 

XIII.  "  Call  your  light  legions,  tread  the  fwampy  heath, 
fierce  with  (harp  fpades  the  tremulous  peat  beneath  ; 
With  colters  bright  the  rufhy  fward  bife6l,  485 

And  in  new  veins  the  gulhing  rills  direct;  — 
So  flowers  {hall  rife  in  purple  light  array'd, 
And  bloffbm'd  orchards  ftretch  their  filver  {hade; 
Admiring  glebes  their  amber  ears  unfold^ 
And  Labour  fleep  amid  the  waving  gold.  490 

<4  Thus  when  young  HERCULES,  with  firm  difdain, 
Braved  the  foft  fmiles  of  Pleafure's  harlot  train  ; 
To.  valiant  toils  his  forceful  limbs  affign'd, 
And  gave  to  Virtue  all  his.  mighty  mind; 
Fierce  ACHELOUS  rufh'd  from  mountain-caves,  495 

O'er  fad  Etolia  pour'd  his  wafteful  waves, 


Jones**  name.  1.  476.  A  young  lady  who  devotes  a  great  part  of  an  am- 
ple fortune  to  well-chofen  acts  of  fecret  charity. 

Fierce  Aihelous.  1.  495.  The  river  Achelous  deluged  Etolia,  by  one  of  its 
branches  or  arms,  which,  in  the  ancient  languages,  are  called  horns,  and  pro- 
duced famine  throughout  a  great  trad  of  country:  this  was  reprefented  in 


92  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

O'er  lowing  vales  and  bleating  paftures  roll'd, 

Swept  her  red  vineyards,  and  her  glebes  of  gold, 

Mined  all  her  towns,  uptore  her  rooted  woods, 

And  Famine  danced  upon  the  (hilling  floods.  500 

The  youthful  Hero  feized  his  curled  creft, 

And  dauYd  with  lifted  club  the  watery  Peft ; 

With  waving  arm  the  billowy  tumult  quell'd, 

And  to  his  gourfe  the  bellowing  Fiend  repell'd. 

"  Then  to  a  Snake  the  finny  Demon  turn'd,  505 

His  lengthened  form  with  (bales  of  (liver  burn'd; 
Lafh'd  with  refiftlefs  fweep  his  dragon-train, 
And  (hot  meandering  o'er  the  affrighted  plain. 
The  Hero-God,  with  giant  fingers  clafp'd 
Firm  round  his  neck,  the  biffing  monfter  grafpM  ;  510 

With  (tarting  eyes,  wide  throat,  and  gaping  teeth, 
Curl  his  redundant  folds,  and  writhe  in  death. 

"  And  now  a  Bull,  amid  the  flying  throng 
The  grifly  Demon  foam'd,  and  roar'd  along ; 
Witii  filv.er  hoofs  the  flowery  meadows  fpurn'd,  515. 

Roll'd  his  red  eye,  his  threatening  antlers  turn'd  ; 
Dragg'd  down  to  earth  the  Warrior's  vi&or-hands, 
Prefs'd  his  deep  dewlap  on  the  imprinted  fands  ; 
Then  with  quick  bound  his  bended  knee  he  rix'd 
High  on  his  neck,  the  branching  horns  betwixt,  520 

StrainM  his  ftrong  arms,  his  finewy  ihoulders  bent, 
And  from  his  curled  brow  the  twitted  terror  rent, 
— Pleafed  Fawns  and  Nymphs  with  dancing  flep  applaud, 
And  hang  their  chaplets  round  the  refting  God ; 
Link  their  foft  hands,  and  rear,  with  paufing  toil,  525 

The  golden  trophy  on  the  furrow'd  foil; 


hieroglyphic  emblems,  hy  the  winding  courfe  of  a  ferpent,  and  the  roar- 
ing of  a  hull  with  large  horns.  Hercules,  cr  the  emblem  of  ftrength, 
llrangled  the  ferpent,  and  tore  off  one  horn  from  the  bull;  that  is,  he  itop- 
ped,  and  turned  the  courfe  of  one  arm  of  the  river,  and  reftcred  plenty 
to  the  country.  Whence  the  ajiciept  emblem  of  the  horn  of  plenty.  Di&. 
par  M.  Danet. 

own  to  earth.  1.  517.     Defciibed  from  an  antique  gem. 


CANTO  III.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  95 

Fill  with  ripe  fruits,  with  wreathed  flowers  adorn, 
And  give  to  Plenty  her  prolific  horn. 

XIV.   "  On  Spring's  fair  lip,  cerulean  Sifter*  /  pour 
From  airy  urns  the  fun-illumin'd  fhower,  530 

Feed  with  the  dulcet  drops  my  tender  broods, 
Mellifluous  flowers,  and  aromatic  buds; 
Hang  from  each  bending  grafs  and  horrent  thorn, 
The  tremulous  pearl,  that  glitters  to  the  morn; 
Or  where  cold  dews  their  fecret  channels  laver  535 

And  Earth's  dark  chambers  hide  the  ftagnant  wave, 
Oh  pierce,  ye  Nymphs  !  her  marble  veins,  and  lead 
Her  gufhing  fountains  to  the  thlrfty  mea.d; 
Wide  o'er  the  fhining  vales,  and  trickling  hills 
Spread  the  bright  treafure  in  a  thoufand  rills. 
So  mail  my  peopled,  realms  of  Leaf  and  Flower 
Exult,  inebriate  with  the  genial  ftiower; 
Dip  their  long  trefles  from  the  mofiy  brink, 
With  tufted  roots  the  glaffy  currents  drink ; 


Spread  the  bright  treafure.  1,  540.  The  pratftice  of  flooding  lands,  long  in 
ufe  in  China,  has  been  but  lately  introduced  into  this  country.  Befides  the 
fupplying  water  to  the  herbage  in  dryer  feafons,  it  feems  to  defend  it  from 
froft  in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  and  thus  doubly  advances  the  vegetation. 
The  waters  which  rife  from  fprings  paffing  through  marl  or  limeftone,  arc 
replete  with  calcareous  earth,  and  when  thrown  over  morafles,  they  de- 
pofit  this  earth,  and  jncruft  or  confolidate  the  morafs,  This  kind  of  earth 
is  depoiited  in  great  quantity  from  the  fprings  at  Matlock  bath,  and  fup- 
plies  the  foft  porous  limeftone,  of  which  the  houfes  and  walls  are  there 
conftructed ;  and  has  formed  the  whole  bank,  for  near  a  mile,  on  that  fide  of 
the  Derwent  on  which  they  ftand. 

The  water  of  many  fprings  contains  much  azotic  gas,  or  phlogiftic  air, 
befides  carbonic  gas,  or  fixed  air,  as  that  of  Buxton  and  Bath;  this  being 
fet  at  liberty,  may  more  readily  contribute  to  the  production  of  nitre,  by 
means  of  the  putrefcent  matters  which  it  is  expofed  to  by  being  fpreacj 
upon  the  furface  of  the  land,  in  the  fame  manner  as  frequently  turning  over 
heaps  of  manure  facilitates  the  nitrous  procefs,  by  imprifoning  atmofpheric 
air  in  the  interftices  of  the  putrefcent  materials.  Water,  arifing  by  land- 
floods,  brings  along  with  it  much  of  the  moft  foluble  parts  of  the  manure 
from  the  higher  lands  to  the  lower  ones.  River-water,  in  its  clear  ftate, 
and  thofe  fprings  which  are  called  foft,  are  lefs  beneficial  for  the  pur«> 
pofe  of  watering  lands,  as  they  contain  lefs  earthy  or  faline  matter;  and 
water,  from  diflolving  fnow  from  its  flow  folution,  brings  but  little  earth 
along  with  it,  as  may  be  feen  by  the  comparative  ckurnefs  of  the  water  of- 
fhow-floods. 


94  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I, 

Shade  your  cool  manfions  from  meridian  beams,  545 

And  view  their  waving  honours  in  your  ftreams. 

"  Thus  where  the  veins  their  confluent  branches  bend, 
And  milky  eddies  with  the  purple  blend; 
The  Cnyle's  white  trunk,  diverging  from  its  fource, 
Seeks  through  the  vital  mafs  its  {tuning  courfe ;  550 

O'er  each  red  cell,  and  tiffued  membrane  fpreads, 
In  living  net- work,  all  its  branching  threads ; 
IVIaze  within  maze  its  tortuous  path  purfues, 
Winds  into  glands,  inextricable  clues ; 

Steals  through  the  ftomach's  velvet  fides,  and  Tips  555 

The  filver  furges  with  a  thoufand  lips ; 
Fills  each  fine  pore,  pervades  each  {lender  hair, 
And  drinks  falubrious  dew-drops  from  the  air. 

"  Thus  when  to  kneel  in  Mecca's  awful  gloom, 
Qr  prefs  with  pious  kifs  MEDINA'S  tomb,  560 

League  after  league,  through  many  a  lingering  day, 
Steer  the  fwart  Caravans  their  fultry  way; 
O'er  fandy  waftes  on  gafping  camels  toil, 
Or  print  with  pilgrim-fteps  the  burning  foil ; 
If  from  lone  rocks  a  fparkling  rill  defcend,  565 

O'er  the  green  brink  the  kneeling  nations  bend, 
Bathe  the  parch'd  lip,  and  cool  the  feverifh  tongue, 
And  the  clear  lake  reflects  the  mingled  throng." 

The  Goddcfs  paufed, — the  liftening  bands  awhile 
Still  feem  to  hear,  and  dwell  upon  her  finilc ;  570 

Then  with  foft  murmur  fweep  in  lucid  trains 
Down  the  green  flopes,  and  o'er  the  pebbly  plains, 
To  each  bright  ftream  on  filver  fandals  glide, 
Reflective  fountain,  and  tumultuous  tide. 

So  (hoot  the  Spider-broods  at  breezy  dawn,  575 

Their  glittering  net-work  o'er  the  autumnal  lawn ; 
From  blade  to  blade  connect  with  cordage  fine 
The  unbending  grafs,  and  live  along  the  line ; 


CANTO  III.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  9$ 

Or  bathe  unwet  their  oily  forms,  and  dwell 

With  feet  repulfive  on  the  dimpling  well.  580 

So  when  the  North  congeals  his  watery  mafs, 
Piles  high  his  fnows,  and  floors  his  feas  with  glafs ; 
While  many  a  Month,  unknown  to  warmer  rays, 
Marks  its  flow  chronicle  by  lunar  days ; 
Stout  youths  and  ruddy  damfels,  fportive  train,  585 

Leave  the  white  foil,  and  rufh  upon  the  main ; 
From  ifle  to  ifle  the  moon-bright  fquadrons  ftray, 
And  win  in  eafy  curves  their  graceful  way ; 
On  ftep  alternate  borne,  with  balance  nice, 
Hang  o'er  the  gliding  fteel,  and  hifs  along  the  ice.  590 


ARGUMENT 


FO  UR  TH   CANTO. 


ADDRESS  to  the  Sylphs.  I.  Trade-winds.  MonfoOn?.  N.  E.  and  ft, 
W.  winds.  Land  and  fea  breezes.  Irregular  winds,  9.  II.  Production 
of  vital  air  from  oxygene  and  lighc.  The  marriage  of  Cupid  and  Pfyche,  25. 
III.  I.  Syroc.  Simoom.  Tornado,  63.  2.  Fog.  Contagion.  Story  of 
Thyrils  and  Aegle.  Love  and  Death,  79.  IV.  I.  Barometer.  Air-pump, 
127.  2.  Air-balloon  of  Mongulfier.  Death  of  Rozier.  Icarus,  143.  V. 
Difcoveries  of  Dr.  Prieftley.  Evolutions  and  combinations  of  pure  air. 
Rape  of  Proferpine,  165.  VI.  Sea-balloons,  or  houfes  conftructed  to  move 
Under  the  fea.  Death  of  Mr.  Day;  of  Mr.  Spalding;  of  Captain  Fierce 
and  his  Daughters,  195.  VII.  Sylphs  of  mufic.  Cecilia  finging.  Cupid, 
with  a  lyre,  riding  upon  a  lion,  233.  VIII.  Deftruclion  of  Senacherib's 
army  by  a  peftilential  wind.  Shadow  of  Death,  263.  IX.  I.  Wiih  to  pof- 
fefs  the  fecret  of  changing  the  courfe  of  the  winds,  305.  2.  Monfter  de- 
vouring air  fubdued  by  Mr.  Kirwan,  321.  X.  I.  Seeds  fufpended  in  their 
pods.  Stars  difcovered  by  Mr.  Herfchel.  Deftruclion  and  refufcitation  of 
all  things,  351.  2.  Seeds  within  feeds,  and  bulbs  within  bulbs.  Picture  on 
the  retina  of  the  eye.  Concentric  ftrata  of  the  earth.  The  great  feed,  381. 
3.  The  root,  pith,  lobes,  plume,  calyx,  corol,  fap,  blood,  leaves  refpire  and 
abforb  light.  The  Crocodile  in  its  egg,  409.  XI.  Opening  of  the  flower. 
The  petals,  ftyle,  anthers,  prolific  duft,  honey-cup.  Tranfmutation  of  the 
lilk-worm,  441.  XII.  I,  Leaf-buds  changed  into  flower-buds  by  wounding 
the  bark,  or  ftrangulating  a  part  of  the  branch.  Cintra,  465.  2.  Ingrafting. 
Aaron's  rod  pullulates,  495.  XIII.  I.  Infecls  on  trees.  Humming-bird 
alarmed  by  the  fpidcr-like  appearance  of  Cyprepedia,  509.  2.  Difeafes  of 
vegetables.  Scratch  on  unnealed  glafs,  529.  XIV.  I.  Tender  flowers- 
Amaryllis,  fritillary,  erythrina,  mimofa,  cerea,  541.  2.  Vines.  Oranges. 
Diana's  trees.  Kew  garden.  The  royal  family,  559.  XV.  Offering  to 
Hygeia,  6oj.  Departure  of  the  Goddefs,  647. 


THE 


BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


ECONOMY  OP  VEGETATION, 


CANTO  IV. 

-TJlS  when  at  noon  in  Hybla's  fragrant  bowers 

CACALIA  opens  all  her  honey'd  flowers; 

Contending  fwarms  on  bending  branches  cling, 

And  nations  hover  on  aurelian  wing; 

So  round  the  Goddefs,  ere  flie  fpeaks,  on  high  ^ 

Impatient  Sylphs  in  gaudy  circlets  fly; 

Quivering  in  air  their  painted  plumes  expand, 

And  coloured  fhadows  dance  upon  the  land. 

I.  "  Sylphs  !  your  light  troops  the  tropic  Winds  confine, 
And  guide  thqir  dreaming  arrows  to  the  Line;  IO 

While  in  warm  floods  ecliptic  Breezes  rife, 
And  fink  with  wings  benumb'd  in  colder  ikies. 


Cacalia  opens.  1.  2.  The  importance  of  the  ne&arium,  or  honey-gland, 
in  the  vegetable  economy,  is  feen  from  the  very  complicated  apparatus  which 
nature  has  formed  in  fome  flowers,  for  the  prefervation  of  their  honey  from 
infeds,  as  in  the  aconites  or  monkfhoods;  in  other  plants,  inftead  of  a  great 
apparatus  for  its  prote£ion,  a  greater  fecretion  of  it  is  produced,  that  thence 
a  part  may  be  fpared  to  the  depredation  of  infeds.  The  cacalia  fuaveolens 
produces  fo  much  honey,  that,  on  fome  days,  it  may  be  fmelt  at  a  great  dif- 
tance  from  the  plant,  I  remember  once  counting  on  one  of  thefe  plants, 
befides  bees  of  various  kinds  without  number,  above  two  hundred  painted 
butterflies,  which  gave  it  the  beautiful  appearance  of  being  covered  with 
additional  flowers. 


rofic  winds.  L  9.     See  additional  notes,  No*  XXXIII. 

PART  I.  Q 


98  BOTANIC  GARDEN-  PAUT  L 

You  bid  Monfoons  on  Indian  feas  refide, 

And  veer,  as  moves  the  fun,  their  airy  tide ; 

While  fouthern  Gales  o'er  weftern  oceans  roll,  15 

And  Eurus  fleals  his  ice-winds  from  the  Pole. 

Your  playful  trains,  on  fultry  iflands  born, 

Turn  on  fantaftic  toe  at  eve  and  morn ; 

With  foft  fufurrant  voice  alternate  fweep 

Earth's  green  pavilions  and  encircling  deep.  2O 

Or  in  itinerant  cohorts,  borne  fublime 

On  tides  of  ether,  float  from  clime  to  clime ; 

O'er  waving  Autumn  bend  your  airy  ring* 

Or  waft  the  fragrant  bofom  of  the  Spring. 

II.  "  When  Morn,  efcorted  by  the  dancing  Hours,        25 
O'er  the  bright  plains  her  dewy  luftre  fhowers  ; 
Till  from  her  fable  chariot  Eve  ferene 
Drops  the  dark  curtain  o'er  the  brilliant  fcene; 
You  form  with  chemic  hands  the  airy  furge, 
Mix  with  broad  vans,  with  fliadowy  tridents  urge.  30 

Sylphs  !  from  each  fun-bright  leaf,  that  twinkling  (hakes 
O'er  Earth's  green  lap,  or  /hoots  amid  her  lakes, 
Your  playful  bands  with  fimpering  lips  invite, 
And  wed  the  enamour'd  OXYGENE  to  LIGHT. — 


The  enamour  d  Oxygens.  1.  34.  The  common  air  of  the  atmofphere  ap- 
pears, by  the  anaiyfis  of  Dr.  Prieftley,  and  other  philosophers,  to  confift  of 
about  three  parts  of  an  elaftic  fluid,  unfit  for  refpiration  or  combuftion,  called 
azote  by  the  French  fchool,  and  about  one  fourth  of  pure  vita}  air,  fit  for 
the  fupport  of  animal  life  and  of  combuftion,  called  oxygene.  The  princi- 
pal fource  of  the  azote  is  probably  from  the  decompofition  of  all  vegetable 
and  animal  matters  by  putrefaction  and  combuftion :  the  principal  fource  of 
vital  air,  or  oxygene,  is,  perhaps,  from  the  decompofition  of  water  in  the 
organs  of  vegetables,  by  -means  of  the  fun's  light.  The  difficulty  of  injecting 
vegetable  vefiels  feems  to  mew,  that  their  perfpirative  pores  are  much  lefs 
than  thofe  of  animals,  and  that  the  water  which  conftitutes  their  perfpira- 
tion  is  fo  divided  at  the  time  of  its  exclufion,  that,  by  means  of  the  fun's 
light,  it  becomes  decompofed ;  the  inflammable  air,  or  hydrogens,  which  is 
one  of  its  conftituent  parts,  being  retained  to  form  the  oil,  refin,  wax,  honey, 
&c.  of  the  vegetable  economy;  and  the  other  part,  which,  united  with  light 
or  heat,  becomes  vital  air,  "or  oxygene  gas,  rifes  into  the  atmofphere,  and 
replenifties  it  with  the  food  of  life. 

Dr.  Prieftley  has  evinced,  by  very  ingenious  experiments,  that  the  blood 
gives  out  phlogifton,  and  receives  vital  air,  or  oxygene  gas,  by  the  lungs. 
And  Dr.  Crawford  has  ihewn,  that  the  blood  acquires  heat  from  this  vital, 
air  in  refpiration.  There  is,  however,  lliil  a  fomething  more  fubtil  than 


CANTO  IV.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  99 

Round  their  white  necks  with  fingers  interwove,  35 

Cling  the  fond  Pair  with  unabating  love ; 

Hand  link'd  in  hand  on  buoyant  ftep  they  rife, 

And  foar  and  gliften  in  unclouded  fkies. 

Whence  in  bright  floods  the  Vital  Air  expands, 

And  with  concentric  fpheres  involves  the  lands ;  4° 

Pervades  the  fwarming  feas,  and  heaving  earths, 

Where  teeming  Nature  broods  her  myriad  births ; 

Fills  the  fine  lungs  of  all  that  breathe  or  bud, 

Warms  the  new  heart,  and  dyes  the  gufhing  blood ; 

With  Life's  firft  fpark  infpires  the  organic  frame,  45 

And,  as  it  waftes,  renews  the  fubtile  flame. 

"  So  pure,  fo  foft,  with  fweet  attraction  (hone 
Fair  PSYCHE,  kneeling  at  the  ethereal  throne; 
Won  with  coy  fmiles  the  admiring  court  of  Jove, 
And  warm'd  the  bofom  of  unconquerM  Love. —  5° 

Beneath  a  moving  fhade  of  fruits  and  flowers 
Onward  they  march  to  Hymen's  facred  bowers ; 
With  lifted  torch  he  lights  the  feftive  train, 
Sublime,  and  leads  them  in  his  golden  chain ; 
Joins  the  fond  pair,  indulgent  to  their  vows,  55 

And  hides  with  myftic  veil  their  blufhing  brows. 
Round  their  fair  forms  their  mingling  arms  they  fling, 
Meet  with  warm  lip,  and  clafp  with  ruftling  wing. — 
— -Hence  plaftic  Nature,  as  Oblivion  whelms 
Her  fading  forms,  re-peoples  all  her  realms ;  60 


heat,  which  muft  be  obtained  in  refpiration  from  the  vital  air;  a  fomething 
which  life  cannot  exift  a  few  minutes  without,  which  feems  neceflary  to 
the  vegetable  as  well  as  to  the  animal  world,  and  which,  as  no  organized 
veflels  can  confine  it,  requires  perpetually  to  be  renewed.  See  note  on  Canto 
1. 1.  401,  and  additional  notes,  No.  XXXIV. 

Fair  Pfycbe.  1.  48.  Defcribed  from  an  ancient  gem,  on  a  fine  onyx,  in 
poffeflion  of  the  Duke  of  Maryborough,  of  which  there  is  a  beautiful  print 
in  Bryant's  Mythol.  vol.  II.  p.  393.  And  from  another  ancient  gem  of 
Cupid  and  Pfyche  embracing,  of  which  there  is  a  print  in  Spence's  Poly- 
metis,  p.  82. 

Re-peoples  all  her  realms.  1.  60. 

Quas  mare  navigerum  et  terras  frugiferentes 
Concelebras ;  per  te  quoniam  genus  omne  animantum 
Concipitur,  vifitque  exortum  lumina  foils.  .    Lucrct* 


ioo  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

Soft  Joys  difport  on  purple  plumes  unfurl'd, 
And  Love  and  Beauty  rule  the  willing  world. 

III.  I.  "  Sylphs  /  your  bold  myriads  on  the  withering  heath 
Stay  the  fell  SYROC'S  fuffocative  breath; 
Arreft  SIMOOM  in  his  realms  of  fand,  65 

The  poifoned  javelin  balanced  in  his  hand  ; — • 
Fierce  on  blue  ft  reams  he  rides  the  tainted  air, 
Points  his  keen  eye,  and  waves  his  whiftling  hair  ; 


Arrejl  Simoom.  1.  65.  "  At  eleven  o'clock,  while  we  were,  with  great 
pleafure,  contemplating  the  rugged  tops  of  Chiggre,  where  we  expected  to 
folace  ourfelves  with  plenty  of  good  water,  Idris  cried  out,  with  a  loud 
voice,  *  fall  upon  your  faces,  for  here  is  the  fimoom!'  I  faw  from  the 
S.  E.  a  haze  come  in  colour  like  the  purple  part  of  a  rainbow,  but  not 
fo  comprefled  or  thick ;  it  did  not  occupy  twenty  yards  in  breadth,  and  was 
about  twelve  feet  high  from  the  giound.  It  was  a  kind  of  a  blufh  upon 
the  air,  and  it  moved  very  rapidly,  for  I  fcarce  could  turn  to  fall  upon  the 
ground,  with  my  head  to  the  northward,  when  I  felt  the  heat  of  its  current 
plainly  upon  my  face.  We  all  lay  flat  upon  the  ground,  as  if  dead,  till 
Idris  told  us  it  was  blown  over.  The  meteor,  or  purple  haze  which  I  faw, 
•was  indeed  paifed,  but  the  light  air  that  ftill  blew,  was  of  heat  to  threaten 
fuffocation.  For  my  part,  1  found  diftinctly  in  my  breaft,  that  I  had  im-i 
bibed  a  part  of  it ;  nor  was  I  free  of  an  afthmatic  fenfation  till  I  had  been 
ibme  months  in  Italy."  Bruce's  Travels,  vol.  IV.  p.  557. 

It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  narrow  track  of  this  peflilential  wind, 
which  is  faid  not  to  exceed  twenty  yards,  and  for  its  fmall  elevation  of 
twelve  feet.  A  whirlwind  will  pafs  forwards,  and  throw  down  an  avenue 
of  trees,  by  its  quick  revolution,  as  it  pafles;  but  nothing  like  a  whirlwind  is 
defcribed  as  happening  in  thefe  narrow  ftreams  of  air,  and  whirlwinds  af- 
oend  to  greater  heights.  There  feems  but  one  known  manner  in  which 
this  channel  of  air  could  be  effected,  and  that  is  by  electricity. 

The  volcanic  origin  of  thefe  winds  is  mentioned  in  the  note  on  Chunda, 
in  vol.  II.  of  this  work:  it  muft  here  be  added,  that  Profeffor  Vairo,  at  Na- 
ples, found,  that  during  the  eruption  of  Vefuvius,  perpendicular  iron  bars 
were  electric;  and  others  have  obierved  fufFocating  damps  to  attend  thefe 
cri'.pHons.  Ferber's  Travels  in  Italy,  p.  133.  And,  laftly,  that  a  current 
of  air  attends  the  paffage  of  electric  matter,  as  is  feen  in  prefenting  an  elec- 
trized point  to  the  flame  of  a  candle.  In  Mr.  Bruce's  account  of  this  fi- 
rnoom,  it  was  in  its  courfe  over  a  quite  dry  defert  of  fand,  (and  which  was, 
in  confequence,  unable  to  conduct  an  electric  ftream  into  the  earth  beneath 
it,)  to  fome  moift  rocks  at  but  a  few  miles  diftance,  and  thence  would  ap- 
pear to  be  a  ftream  of  electricity  from  a  volcano,  attended  with  noxious  air; 
and  as  the  bodies  of  Mr.  Bruce  and  his  attendants  were  infulated  on  the 
land,  they  would  not  be  fenfible  of  their  increafed  electricity,  as  it  paffed 
over  them;  to  which  it  may  be  added,  that  a  fulphurous  or  fufFocating  fen- 
fation is  faid  to  accompany  flafhes  of  lightning,  and  even  ftrong  fparks  of 
artificial  electricity.  In  the  above  account  of  the  limoorn,  a  great  rednefs 
in  the  air  is  faid  to  be  a  certain  fign  of  its  approach,  which  may  be  occa- 
Coned  by  the  eruption  of  flame  from  a  diftant  volcano  in  thefe  extenfwc 
and  impenetrable  dcferts  of  fand.  See  note  on  1.  29  a  of  this  Canto. 


CAWTO  IV.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  101 

While,  as  he  turns,  the  undulating  foil 

Rolls  in  red  waves,  and  billowy  deferts  boil.  70 

You  feize  TORNADO  by  his  locks  of  mift, 
Burft  his  clenfe  clouds,  his  wheeling  fpires  untwift ; 
Wide  o'er  the  Weft,  when  borne  on  headlong  gales, 
Dark  as  meridian  night,  the  Monfter  fails, 
Howls  high  in  air,  and  {hakes  his  curled  brow,  75 

Lafhing  with  ferpent-train  the  waves  below, 
Whirls  his  black  arm,  the  forked  lightning  flings, 
And  fhowers  a  deluge  from  his  demon-wings, 

2.  "  Sylphs  !  with  light  (hafts  you  pierce  the  drowfy  Foo, 
That  lingering  (lumbers  on  the  fedge-wove  bog,  80 

With  webbed  feet  o'er  midnight  meadows  creeps, 
Or  flings  his  hairy  limbs  on  ftagnant  deeps. 
You  meet  Contagion  iffuing  from  afar, 
And  daih  the  baleful  conqueror  from  his  car ; 
When,  Gueft  of  Death  !  from  charnel  vauhs  he  fteals,       85 
And  bathes  in  human  gore  his  armed  wheels. 

"  Thus  when  the  Plague,  upborne  on  Belgian  air, 
Look'd  through  the  mift,  and  (hook  his  clotted  hair ; 
O'er  (hrinking  nations  fteer'd  malignant  clouds, 
And  rain'd  deftru&ion  on  the  gafping  crouds.  90 

The  beauteous  J&GLE  felt  the  venom'd  dart, 
Slow  roll'd  her  eye,  and  feebly  throbb'd  her  heart ; 
Each  fervid  figh  feem'd  ihorter  than  the  la  ft, 
And  ftarting  Friendlhip  fhunn'd  her,  as  (he  pafs'd. 

tornado.  1.  71.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXIJI. 

On  jlagnant  deeps.  1.  82.  All  contagious  miafmata  originate  ejther  from 
animal  bodies,  as  thofe  of  the  fmall-pox,  or  from  putrid  moraffes;  thefe 
latter  produce  agues  in  the  colder  climates,  and  malignant  fevers  in  the 
warmer  ones.  The  volcanic  vapours  which  caufe  epidemic  coughs,  are  to 
be  ranked  amongft  poifons,  rather  than  amongft  the  miafmata,  which  produce 
contagious  difeafes. 

The  beauteous  j&vle.  1.  pi.  When  the  plague  raged  in  Holland,  in  1636, 
a  young  girl  was  feized  with  it,  had  three  carbuncles,  and  was  removed  to 
a  garden,  where  her  lover,  who  was  betrothed  to  her,  attended  her  as  a 
nurfe,  and  flept  with  her  as  his  wife.  He  remained  uninfedted,  and  Ihe  re- 
covered, and  was  married  to  him.  The  ilory  is  related  by  Vine.  Fabricius, 
in  the  Mifc.  Cur.  Ann.  II.  Obf.  188. 


loa  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  1. 

— With  weak  unfleady  ftep  the  fainting  Maid  95 

Seeks  the  cold  garden's  folitary  fhade, 

Sinks  on  the  pillowy  mofs  her  drooping  head, 

And  prints  with  lifelefs  limbs  her  leafy  bed. 

— On  wings  of  Love  her  plighted  Swain  purfues, 

Shades  her  from  winds,  and  (helters  her  from  dews,  joo 

Extends  on  tapering  poles  the  canvas  roof, 

Spreads  o'er  the  ftraw-wove  matt,  the  flaxen  woof, 

Sweet  buds  and  bloffoms  on  her  bolfler  ftrows, 

And  binds  his  kerchief  round  her  aching  brows ; 

Sooths  with  foft  kifs,  with  tender  accents  charms,  105 

And  clafps  the  bright  infection  in  his  arms, — 

"With  pale  and  languid  fmiles  the  grateful  Fair 

Applauds  his  virtues,  and  rewards  his  care ; 

Mourns  with  wet  cheek  her  fair  companions  fled 

On  timorous  ftep,  or  number'd  with  the  dead;  1 10 

Calls  to  her  bofom  all  its  fcatter'd  rays, 

And  pours  on  THYRSIS  the  collected  blaze ; 

Braves  the  chill  night,  careffing  and  carefs'd, 

And  folds  her  Hero-lover  to  her  breaft. — 

Lefs  bold,  LEANDER  at  the  dufky  hour  115 

Eyed,  as  he  fwam,  the  far  love-lighted  tower ; 

Breafted  with  ftruggling  arms  the  tofiing  wave, 

And  funk  benighted  in  the  watery  grave. 

Lefs  bold,  TOBIAS  claim'd  the  nuptial  bed 

Where  feven  fond  Lovers  by  a  Fiend  had  bled  ;  120 

And  drove,  inftrucled  by  his  Angel-Guide, 

The  enamour'd  Demon  from  the  fatal  bride. — 

— Sylphs  !  while  your  winnowing  pinions  fann'd  the  air, 

And  (hed  gay  vifions  o'er  the  fleeping  pair; 

Love  round  their  couch  efTufed  his  rofy  breath,  125 

And  with  his  keener  arrows  conquer'd  Death. 

IV.  i.  "  You  cliarm'd,  indulgent  Sylphs  /  their  learned  toil, 
And  crown'd  with  fame  your  TORRICELL  and  BOYLE; 


Torricell  and  Boyle.  1. 128.  The  preflure  of  the  atmofphere  was  difcovered 
by  Torricelli,  a  difciple  of  Galileo,  who  had  previoufly  found  that  the  air 
had  weight.  Dr.  Hook,  and  M.  du  Hamel,  afcrihe  the  invention  of  the  air- 
pump  to  Mr.  Boyle,  who,  however,  confeffes  he  had  fome  hints  concerning 


CANTO  IV.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  io| 

Taught  with  fvveet  fmiles,  refponfive  to  their  prayer, 

The  fpring  and  preflure  of  the  viewlefs  air.  130 

— How  up  exhaufted  tubes  bright  currents  flow 

Of  liquid  lilver  from  the  lake  below, 

Weigh  the  long  column  of  the  incumbent  {kies, 

And  with  the  changeful  moment  fall  and  rife. 

— How,  as  in  brazen  pumps  the  piftons  move,  13$ 

The  membrane-valve  fuftains  the  weight  above ; 

Stroke  follows  ftroke,  the  gelid  vapour  falls, 

And  mifty  dew-drops  dim  the  cryftal  walls; 

Rare  and  more  rare  expands  the  fluid  thin. 

And  Silence  dwells  with  Vacancy  within.—  140 

So  in  the  mighty  Void  with  grim  delight 

Primeval  Silence  reign'd  with  ancient  Night. 

2.  "  Sylphs  !  your  foft  voices,  whifpering  from  the  Ikies, 
Bade  from  low  earth  the  bold  MONGOLFIER  rife; 


its  construction  from  de  Guerick.  The  vacancy  at  the  fummit  of  the  bare* 
meter  is  termed  the  Torricellian  vacuum,  and  the  exhaufted  receiver  of  an 
air-pump,  the  Boylean  vacuum,  in  honour  of  thefe  two  philofophets. 

The  mift  and  defcending  dew  which  appear  at  firft  exhaufting  the  receiver 
of  an  air-pump,  are  explained  in  the  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  LXXVIII.  from  the 
cold  produced  by  the  expanfion  of  air.  For  a  thermometer  placed  in  the 
receiver,  finks  fome  degrees,  and  in  a  very  little  time ;  as  foon  as  a  fufficient 
quantity  of  heat  can  be  acquired  from  the  furrounding  bodies,  the  dew  be- 
comes again  taken  up.  See  additional  notes,  No.  VII.  Mr.  Sauffure  ob- 
ferved,  on  placing  his  hygrometer  in  a  receiver  of  an  air-pump,  that  though, 
on  beginning  to  exhauft  it,  the  air  became  mifty,  and  parted  with  its  moifture, 
yet  the  hair  of  his  hygrometer  contracted,  and  the  inftrument  pointed  to 
greater  drynefs.  This  unexpe&ed  occurrence  is  explained  by  M.  Monge, 
(Annales  de  Chimie,  Tom.  V.)  to  depend  on  the  want  of  the  ufual  preffure 
of  the  atmofphere,  to  force  the  aqueous  particles  into  the  pores  of  the  hair; 
and  M.  Sauffure  fuppofes,  that  his  velicular  vapour  requires  more  time  to  be 
re-diffolved,  than  is  neceffary  to  dry  the  hair  of  his  thermometer.  Effais  fur 
1'Hygrom.  p.  226.  But  I  fufpecl  there  is  a  lefs  hypothetical  way  of  under- 
Handing  it:  when  a  colder  body  is  brought  into  warm  and  moift  air,  (as  a 
bottle  of  fpring-water,  for  inftance,)  a  fteam  is  quickly  collected  on  its  fur- 
face:  the  contrary  occurs  when  a  warmer  body  is  brought  into  cold  and 
damp  air ;  it  continues  free  from  dew  fo  long  "as  it  continues  warm ;  for  it 
warms  the  atmofphere  around  it,  and  renders  it  capable  of  receiving,  inftead 
of  parting  with  moifture.  The  moment  the  air  becomes  rarefied  in  the  re- 
ceiver of  the  air-pump,  it  becomes  colder,  as  appeaiS  by  the  thermometer, 
and  depofits  its  vapour ;  but  the  hair  of  Mr.  Sauflure's  hygrometer  is  now 
warmer  than  the  air  in  which  it  is  immerfed,  and,  in  confequence,  becomes 
dryer  than  before,  by  warming  the  air  which  immediately  iurrounds  it,  a  part 
of  its  moifture  evaporating  along  with  its  heat. 


J64  BOTANIC  GARDEN1.  PAJRT  L 

Outftretch'd  his  buoyant  ball  with  airy  fpring,  145 

And  bore  the  Sage  on  levity  of  wing ; — 

Where  were  ye,  Sylphs  !  when  on  the  ethereal  main 

Young  ROSIERE  launched,  and  calPd  your  aid  in  vain? 

Fair  mounts  the  light  balloon,  by  Zephyr  driven, 

Parts  the  thin  clouds,  and  fails  along  the  heaven  ;  150 

Higher  and  yet  higher  the  expanding  bubble  flies, 

Lights  with  quick  flafh,  and  burfts  amid  the  fkies. — 

Headlong  He  rufhes  through  the  affrighted  Air 

With  limbs  diftorted,  and  difhevel'd  hair, 

Whirls  round  and  round,  the  flying  croud  alarms,  155 

And  Death  receives  him  in  his  fable  arms ! 

— Betrothed  Beauty,  bending  o'er  his  bier, 

Breathes  the  loud  fob,  and  fheds  the  incefTant  tear; 

Purfues  the  fad  proceflion,  as  it  moves 

Through  winding  avenues  and  waving  groves;  160 

Hears  the  flow  dirge  amid  the  echoing  ailes, 

And  mingles  with  her  fighs  difcordant  fmiles. 

Then  with  quick  flep  advancing  through  the  gloom, 

"  I  come  !"  (he  cries,  and  leaps  into  his  tomb. 

"  Oh,  ftay  !  I  follow  thee  to  realms  above! —  165 

"  Oh,  wait  a  moment  for  thy  dying  love ! — 

"  Thus,  thus  I  clafp  thee  to  my  burfting  heart ! — 

"  Clofe  o'er  us,  holy  Earth  !— We  will  not  part!"*— 

So  erft  with  melting  wax  and  loofen'd  firings 

Sunk  haplefs  ICARUS  on  unfaithful  wings;  170 

His  fcatter'd  plumage  danced  upon  the  wave^ 

And  fonowing  Mermaids  deck'd  his  watery  grave; 

Young  Rojicre  launctid.  1.  148.  M.  Pilatre  du  Rofiere,  with  a  M.  Re- 
main, rofe  in  a  balloon  from  Boulogne,  in  June,  1785,  and  after  having 
been  about  a  mile  high  for  about  half  an  hour,  the  balloon  took  fire,  and 
the  two  adventurers  were  dafhed  to  pieces  on  their  fall  to  the  ground.  Mr. 
Rofiere  was  a  philofopher  of  great  talents  and  adivity,  joined  with  fuch 
urbanity  and  elegance  of  manners,  as  conciliated  the  affedions  of  his  ac- 
quaintance, and  rendered  his  misfortune  univerfally  lamented.  Annual  Re- 
gifter  for  1784  and  1785,  p.  329. 

*  Mifs  Sufan  Dyer  was  engaged,  in  a  few  days,  to  marry  M.  Rofiere, 
who  had  promifed  to  quit  fuch  dangerous  experiments  in  future: — {he  was 
fpedatrefs  of  this  fad  accident,  lingered  fome  months,  and  died  from  excefs 
of  grief.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Collier,  Dean  of  Trinity  College,  in  Cambridge, 
was  well  acquainted  with  this  amiable  young  lady,  and  fuggefted  the  intro- 
duction of  her  melancholy  hiftory  in  this  place. 


CANTO  IV.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATIONS  105 

O'er  his  pale  corfe  their  pearly  fea-fiowers  (hed$ 

And  ftrew'd  with  crirnfon  mofs  his  marble  bed ; 

S.ruck  in  -their  coral  towers  the  paufing  bell,  175 

And  wide  in  ocean  toll'd  his  echoing  knelL 

V.  "  Sylphs  !  you,  retiring  to  fequefter'd  bowers* 
Where  oft  your  PRIESTLEY  woos  your  airy  powers^ 


And  wide  in  octatt.  1.  176.  Denfer  bodies  propagate  vibration  or  found 
better  than  rarer  ones;  if  two  ftones  be  {truck  together  under  the  water,  they 
may  be  heard  a  mile  or  two  by  any  one  whofe  head  is  immerfed  at  that  dif- 
tance,  according  to  an  experiment  of  Dr.  Franklin.  If  the  ear  be  applied  to 
one  end  of  a  long  beam  of  timber,  the  ftroke  of  a  pin  at  the  other  end  be- 
comes fenfible;  if  a  poker  be  fufpended  in  the  middle  of  a  garter,  each  end 
of  Which  is  prefled  againft  the  ear,  the  leaft  percuflions  on  the  poker  give 
great  founds.  And,  I  am  informed,  by  laying  the  ear  on  the  ground,  the 
tread  of  a  horfe  may  be  difcerned  at  a  great  diftance  in  the  night.  The 
organs  of  hearing  belonging  to  fiih,  are  for  this  reafon  much  lefs  complicated 
than  of  quadrupeds,  as  the  fluid  they  are  immerfed  in  fb  much  better  con- 
veys its  vibrations.  And,  it  is  probable,  that  fome  fhell-fifh  which  have 
twifted  (hells,  like  the  cochlea,  and  femicircular  canals  of  the  ears  of  men  and 
quadrupeds,  may  have  no  appropriated  organ  for  perceiving  the  vibrations 
of  the  element  they  live  in,  but  may,  by  their  fpiral  form,  be,  in  a  manner, 
all  ear. 

Where  oft  your  PrieJIley.  1.  178.  The  fame  of  Dr.  Prieftley  is  known  iri 
every  part  of  the  earth  where  fcience  has  penetrated.  His  various  difcove-< 
ries  refpe&ing  the  analyfis  of  the  atmofphere,  and  the  production  of  a  variety 
of  new  airs  or  gaffes,  can  only  .be  clearly  underftood  by  reading  his  Experi- 
ments on  Airs,  (3  vols.  odtavo.  Johnfon.  Lond.)  The  following  are  amongft 
his  many  difcoveries.  i.  The  difcovery  of  nitrous  and  dephlogiilicated  airs, 
a.  The  exhibition  of  the  acids  and  alkalies  in  the  form  of  air.  3.  Afcer-* 
taining  the  purity  of  refpirable  air  by  nitrous  air.  4.  The  reiteration  of 
vitiated  air  by  vegetation.  5.  The  influence  of  light  to  enable  vegetables 
to  yield  pure  air.  6.  The  converfion,  by  means  of  light,  of  animal  and  ve- 
getable fubftances,  that  would  otherwise  become  putrid  and  offenfive,  into 
nourifhment  of  vegetables.  7.  The  ufe  of  refpiration  by  the  blood  parting 
with  phlogifton,  and  imbibing  dephlogifticated  air. 

The  experiments  here  alluded  to  are,  I.  Concerning  the  production  of 
nitrous  gas  from  diffolving  iron,  and  many  other  metals  in  nitrous  acid, 
which,  though  firft  difcovered  by  Dr.  Hales,  (Static.  Eff.  vol.  I.  p.  224,) 
was  fully  inveftigated,  and  applied  to  the  important  purpofe  of  diftinguifh- 
ing  the  purity  of  atmofpheric  air  by  Dr.  Prieftley.  When  about  two  mea- 
fures  of  common  air,  and  one  of  nitrous  gas,  are  mixed  together,  a  red  effer- 
vefcence  takes  place,  and  the  two  airs  occupy  about  one-fourth  lefs  fpacc 
than  was  previoufiy  occupied  by  the  common  air  alone. 

2.  Concerning  the  green  fubftance  which  grows  at  the  bottom  of  refer- 
voirs  of  water,  which  Dr.  Prieftley  difcovered  to  yield  much  pure  air  when 
the  fun  fhone  on  it.  His  method  of  collecting  this  air  is  by  placing  over 
the  green  fubftance,  which  he  believes  to  be  a  vegetable  of  the  genus  con- 
ferva, an  inverted  bell-glafs  previoufiy  filled  with  water,  which  iubfides  a^ 
the  air  arifes;  it  has  fincg  been  found  that  all  vegetables  give  up  pure  ak 

PARTI.  P 


106  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

On  noifelefs  ftep  or  quivering  pinion  glide, 

As  fits  the  Sage  with  Science  by  his  fide ;  180 

To  his  charm'd  eye  in  gay  undrefs  appear, 

Or  pour  your  fecrets  on  his  raptured  ear. 

How  nitrous  Gas  from  iron  ingots  driven 

Drinks  with  red  lips  the  pureft  breath  of  heaven ; 

How,  while  Conferva,  from  its  tender  hair,  185 

Gives  in  bright  bubbles  empyrean  air, 

The  cryftal  floods  phlogiftic  ores  calcine, 

And  the  pure  ETHER  marries  with  the  MINE. 

"  So  in  Sicilia's  ever-blooming  fhade, 

When  playful  PROSERPINE  from  CERES  flray'd,  io,cr 

Led  with  unwary  flep  her  virgin  trains 
O'er  Etna's  fteeps,  and  Enna's  golden  plains ; 
Pluck'd  with  fair  hand  the  filver-blofTom'd  bower,  ' 
And  purpled  mead, — herfelf  a  fairer  flower; 
Sudden,  unfeen  amid  the  twilight  glade,  195 

Ruih'd  gloomy  Dis,  and  feized  the  trembling  maid. — 
Her  flatting  damfels  fprung  from  mofTy  feats, 
Dropp'd  from  their  gauzy  laps  the  gather'd  fweets, 
Ciung  round  the  flruggling  Nymph,  with  piercing  cries, 
Purfued  the  chariot,  and  invok'd  the  fkies; —  200 

from  their  leaves,  when  the  fun  fhines  upon  them,  but  not  in  the  night, 
v.'hich  may  be  owing  to  the  fleep  of  the  plant. 

3.  The  third  refers  to  the  great  quantity  of  pure  air  contained  in  the  cal- 
ces of  metals  The  calces  were  long  known  to  weigh  much  more  than  the 
metallic  bodies  before  calcination,  infBmuch  that  100  pounds  of  lead  will 
produce  na  pounds  of  minium;  the  ore  of  manganefe,  which  is  always 
found  near  the  furface  of  the  earth,  is  replete  with  pure  air,  which  is  now 
ufed  for  the  purpofe  of  bleaching.  Other  metals,  when  expofed  to  the 
atmofphere,  aftra&  che  pure  air  from  it,  and  become  calces  by  its  combina- 
tion, as  zink,  lead,  iron;  and  increafe  in  weight  in  proportion  to  the  air 
which  they  imbibe. 

When  playful  Proferpine.  1.  190.  The  fable  of  Proferpine's  being  feized 
by  Pluto  as  fhe  was  gathering  flowers,  is  explained  by  Lord  Bacon  to  fignify 
the  .combination  or  marriage  of  ethereal  fpirit  with  earthly  materials.  Ba- 
con's Works,  vol.  V.  p.  470.  edit.  4to.  Lond.  1778.  This  allufion  is  ftill 
more  curioufly  exa£,  from  the  late  difcovery  of  pure  air  being  given  up  from 
vegetables,  and  that  then,  in  its  unmixed  ftate,  it  more  readily  combines' 
with  metallic  or  inflammable  bodies.  From  thefe  fables,  which  were  pro- 
bably taken  from  ancient  hieroglyphics,  there  is  frequently  reafon  to  believe, 
that  the  Egyptians  poffefled  much  chemical  knowledge,  which,  for  want  of 
alphabetical  writing,  perifhed  with  their  philofophers. 


CANTO  IV.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  107 

Pleafed  as  he  grafps  her  in  his  iron  arms, 

Frights  with  foft  tighs,  with  tender  words  alarms, 

The  wheels  defcending  roll'd  in  fmoky  rings, 

Infernal  Cupids  flapp'd  their  demon  wings ; 

Earth  with  deep  yawn  received  the  Fair,  amaz'd,  205 

And  far  in  Night  celeftial  Beauty  blaz'd. 

VI.  "  Led  by  the  Sage,  lo !  Britain's  fons  fhall  guide 
Huge  Sea-Balloons  beneath  the  tofling  tide; 
The  diving  caftles,  roof 'd  with  fpheric  glafs% 
Ribb'd  with  ftrong  oak,  and  barr'd  with  bolts  of  brafs,     2IO 
Buoy'd  with  pure  air  {hall  endlefs  tracks  purfue, 
And  PRIESTLEY'S  hand  the  vital  flood  renew. — 
Then  fhall  BRITANNIA  rule  the  wealthy  realms, 
Which  Ocean's  wide  infatiate  wave  o'erwhelmsj 
Confine  in  netted  bowers  his  fcaly  flocks,  215 

Part  his  blue  plains,  and  people  all  his  rocks. 
Deep,  in  warm  waves  beneath  the  Line  that  roll, 
Beneath  the  fhadowy  ice-ifles  of  the  Pole, 
Onward,  through  bright  meandering  vales,  afar, 
Obedient  Sharks  fhall  trail  her  "fceptred  car,  22.O 

With  harnefs'd  necks  the  pearly  flood  diiturb, 
Stretch  the  filk  rein,  and  champ  the  filver  curb; 

Led  by  tie  Sage.  1.  207.  Dr.  Prieftley's  difcovery  of  the  production  of 
pure  air  from  fuch  variety  of  fubftances  will  probably  foon  be  applied  to 
the  improvement  of  the  diving-bell,  as  the  fubftances  which  contain  vital 
air  in  immenfe  quantities  are  of  little  value,  as  manganefe  and  minium. 
See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXIII.  In  every  hundred  weight  of  minium 
there  is  combined  about  twelve  pounds  of  pure  air;  now,  as  fixty  pounds  of 
water  are  about  a  cubic  foot,  and  as  air  is  eight  hundred  times  lighter  than 
water,  five  hundred  weight  of  minium  will  produce  eight  hundred  cubic 
feet  of  air,  or  about  fix  thoufand  gallons.  Now,  as  this  is  at  leaft  thrice 
as  pure  as  atmofpheric  air,  a  gallon  of  it  may  be  fuppofed  to  ferve  for 
three  minutes  refpiration  for  one  man.  At  prefent  the  air  can  not  be 
fet  at  liberty  from  minium,  by  vitriolic  acid,  without  the  application  of 
•fome  heat ;  this  is,  however,  very  likely  foon  to  be  difcovered,  and  will 
then  enable  adventurers  to  journey  beneath  the  ocean  in  large  inverted 
fhips,  or  diving  balloons. 

Mr.  Boyle  relates,  that  Cornelius  Drebelle  contrived  not  only  a  veiTel  to 
be  rowed  under  water,  but  alfo  a  liquor  to  be  carried  in  that  veffel  which 
would  fupply  the  want  of  frefh  air.  The  veflel  was  made  by  order  of 
James  I.  and  carried  twelve  rowers  befides  paflengers.  It  was  tried  in  the 
river  Thames,  and  one  of  the  perfens  who  was  in  that  fubmarine  voyagej 
told  the  particulars  of  the  experiments  to  a  perfon  who  related  them  to  Mr. 
Boyle.  Annual  Regifter  for  1774,  p.  348. 


*o8  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Pleafed  round  her  triumph  wondering  Tritons  play, 

And  Sea-maids  hail  her  on  the  water v  way. 

— Oft  fhall  (he  weep  beneath  the  cryftal  waves  225 

O'er  fhipwreck'd  lovers  weltering  in  their  graves; 

Mingling  in  death  the  Brave  and  Good  behold 

With  flaves  to  glory,  and  with  (laves  to  gold; 

Shrin'd  in  the  deep  fliall  DAY  and  SPALDING  mourn, 

Each  in  his  treacherous  bell,  fepulchral  urn  !-—  230 

Oft  o'er  thy  lovely  daughters,  haplefs  PIERCE  ! 

Her  fighs  fhali  breathe,  her  forrows  dew  their  hearfe. — 

With  brow  upturn'd  to  Heaven,  "  JVe  will  not  part  /" 

He  cried,  and  clafp'd  them  to  his  aching  heart. — 

— Dafli'd  in  dread  conflict  on  the  rocky  grounds,  23$ 

Crafh  the  (hock'd  mafts,  the  (Daggering  wreck  rebounds ; 

Through  gaping  feams  the  rufhing  deluge  fwims, 

Chills  their  pale  bofoms,  bathes  their  fhuddering  limbs, 

Climbs  their  white  flioulders,  buoys  their  ffcreaming  hair, 

And  the  laft  fea-flirieli  bellows  in  the  air. — •  240 


Day  and  SpaMixg  mourn.  1.  229.  Mr.  Day  perifhed  in  a  diving-bell,  or 
diving-boat,  of  his  own  conftru&ion,  at  Plymouth,  in  June,  1774,  in  which 
he  was  to  have  continued,  for  a  wager,  twelve  hours,  one  hundred  feet  deep 
in  water,  and  probably  perifhed  from  his  not  poffeffing  all  the  hydroflatic 
knowledge  that  was  neceffary.  See  note  on  Ulva,  vol.  II.  of  this  work. 
See  Annual  Regifter  for  1774,  p.  245. 

Mr.  Spalding  was  profeffionally  ingenious  in  the  art  of  conftructing  and 
managing  the  diving-bell,  and  had  practifed  the  bufinefs  many  years  with 
fuccefs.  He  went  down,  accompanied  by  one  of  his  young  men,  twice,  to 
view  the  wreck  of  the  Imperial  Eafl-Indiaman,  at  the  Kifh  bank,  in  Ireland. 
On  defcending  the  third  time,  in  June,  1783,  they  remained  about  an  hour 
under  water,  and  had  two  barrels  of  air  fent  down  to  them;  but,  on  the  fig- 
rals  from  below  not  being  again  repeated,  after  a. certain  time,  they  were 
drawn  up  by  their  afliftants,  and  both  found  dead  in  the  bell.  Annual  Re- 
gifter for  1783,  p.  206.  Thefe  two  unhappy  events  may,  for  a  time,  check 
the  ardor  of  adventurers  in  traverfing  the  bottom  of  the  ocean;  but,  it  is 
probable,  in  another  half  century  it  may  be  fafer  to  travel  under  the  ocean 
than  over  it,  fince  Dr.  Prieflley's  difcovery  of  procuring  pure  air  in  fuch 
great  abundance  from  the  calces  of  metals. 

Haplefs  Pierce!  1.  231.  The  Halfewell,  Eafl-Indiaman,  outward  bound, 
\vas  wrecked  off  Seacomb,  in  the  Ifle  of  Purbec,  on  the  6th  of  January, 
1 786,  when  Capt.  Pierce,  the  commander,  with  two  young  ladies,  his  daugh- 
ters, and  the  greateft  part  of  the  crew  and  pafTengers,  perifhed  in  the  fea. 
Some  of  the  officer^,  and  about  feventy  feamen,  efcaped  with  great  difficulty 
on  the  rocks;  but  Capt.  Pierce,  finding  it  was  impoflible  to  fave  the  lives  of 
the  young  ladies,  refufed  to  quit  the  Ihip,  and  perifhed  with  them. 


CANTO  IV.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  iof 

Each  with  loud  fobs  her  tender  fire  carefs'd, 
And  gafping  ftrainM  him  clofer  to  her  breaft ! — 
— Srretch'd  on  one  bier  they  fleep  beneath  the  brine, 
And  their  white  bones  with  ivory  arms  intwine ! 

VII.  '"  Sylphs  of  nice  ear  !  with  beating  wings  you  guide 
The  fine  vibrations  of  the  aerial  tide;  246 

Join  in  fweet  cadences  the  meafured  words, 
Or  ftretch  and  modulate  the  trembling  cords. 
You  ftrung  to  melody  the  Grecian  lyre, 

Breathed  the  rapt  fong,  and  fan'd  the  thought  of  fire,         250 
Or  brought  in  combinations,  deep  and  clear, 
Immortal  harmony  to  HANDEL'S  ear. — - 
You  with  foft  breath  attune  the  vernal  gale, 
When  breezy  evening  broods  the  liftening  vale; 
Or  wake  the  loud  tumultuous  founds,  that  dwell  255 

In  Echo's  many-toned  diurnal  {hell. 
You  melt  in  dulcet  chords,  when  Zephyr  rings 
The  Eolian  Harp,  and  mingle  all  its  firings ; 
Or  trill  in  air  the  foft  fymphonious  chime, 
When  rapt  CECILIA  lifts  her  eye  fublime,  260 

Swell,  as  flic  breathes,  her  bofom's  rifing  fnow, 
O'er  her  white  teeth  in  tuneful  accents  flow, 
Through  her  fair  lips  on  whifpering  pinions  move, 
And  form  the  tender  fighs,  that  kindle  love ! 

(t  So  playful  Love  on  Ida's  flowery  fides  265 

With  ribbon-rein  the  indignant  Lion  guides  j 
Pleafed  on  his  brinded  back  the  lyre  he  rings, 
And  {hakes  delirious  rapture  from  the  firings ; 
Slow  as  the  paufing  Monarch  ftalks  along, 
Sheaths  his  retractile  claws,  and  drinks  the  fong;  270 

Soft  Nymphs  on  timid  flep  the  triumph  view, 
And  liftening  Fawns  with  beating  hoofs  purfue ; 
With  pointed  ears  the  alarmed  foreft  ftarts, 
And  Love  and  Mufic  foften  favage  hearts. 


Indignant  Lion  guides.  1.  266.     Defcribed  from  an  ancient  gem,  exprcfllvc 
of  the  combined  power  of  love  and  mufic,  in  t«h,e  Mufeum  Florent. 


fio  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

VIII.  "  Sylphs  !  your  bold  hofts,  when  Heaven  with  juftice 
dread  275 

Calls  the  red  tempeft  round  the  guilty  head, 
Fierce  at  his  nod  affume  vindictive  forms, 
And  launch  from  airy  cars  the  vollied  ftorms. — 
From  Amur's  vales  when  proud  SENACHERIB  trod, 
Pour'd  his  fwoln  heart,  defied  the  living  GOD,  280 

Urg'd  with  incefTant  fhouts  his  glittering  powers, 
And  JUDAH  fhook  through  all  her  maffy  towers; 
Round  her  fad  altars  prefs'd  the  proftrate  crowd, 
Hofts  beat  their  breafts,  and  fuppliant  chieftains  bow'd; 
Loud  fhrieks  of  matrons  thrill'd  the  troubled  air,  285 

And  trembling  virgins  rent  their  fcatter'd  hair; 
High  in  the  midft  the  kneeling  King  adored, 
Spread  the  blafpheming  fcroll  before  the  Lord, 
Raifed  his  pale  hands,  and  breathed  his  paufing  fighs, 
And  fixed  on  Heaven  his  dim  imploring  eyes, —  290 

44  Oh!  MIGHTY  GOD!  amidfl  thy  Seraph  -throng 
"  Who  fit' ft  fublime,  the  Judge  of  Right  and  Wrong; 
"  Thine  the  wide  earth,  bright  fun,  and  ftarry  zone, 
*'  That  twinkling  journey  round  thy  golden  throne; 
"  Thine  is  the  cryflal  fource  of  life  and  light,  295 

"  And  thine  the  realms  of  Death's  eternal  night. 
"  Oh !  bend  thine  ear,  thy  gracious  eye  incline, 
"  Lo !   Amur's  King  blafphemes  thy  holy  fhrine, 
"  Infults  our  offerings,  and  derides  our  vows, — 
*-  Oh!   ftrike  the  diadem  from  his  impious  brows,  300 

"  Tear  from  his  murderous  hand  the  bloody  rod, 
"  And  teach  the  trembling  nations,   Thou  art  GOD  !" 
— Sylphs !   in  what  uread  array  with  pennons  broad 
Onward  ye  floated  o'er  the  ethereal  road, 
Call'd  each  dank  fteam  the  reeking  inarm,  exhales,  305 

Contagious  vapours,  and  volcanic  gales, 

Volcanic  gales.  1.  306.  The  peflilcntial  winds  of  the  eaft  are  clefcribed  by 
various  authors  under  various  denominations,  as  harmattan,  famiel,  famiurn, 
fyrocca,  kamfm,  feravanfum.  M.  de  Beauchamp  defcribes  a  remarkable 
ibuth  wind  in  the  deferts  about  Bagdad,  called  feravanfum,  or  poifcn  wind; 
it  burns  the  face,  impedes  refpiration,  imps  the  trees  of  their  leaves,  and 
is  laid  to  pafs  on  in  a*ftraight  line,  and  often  kills  people  in  fix  hours.  P. 
Cotte  fur  la  Meteorol.  Analytical  Review  for  February,  1790.  M.  Voi- 


CANTO  IV.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  in 

Gave  the  foft  Soath  with  poifonous  breath  to  blow, 

And  roll'd  the  dreadful  whirlwind  on  the  foe  ! 

Hark  !  o'er  the  camp  the  venom'd  ternpeft  fmgs, 

Man  falls  on  Man,  on  buckler  buckler  rings ;          ((      310 

Groan  anfwers  groan,  to  anguidi  anguifh  yields, 

And  DEATH'S  loud  accents  {hake  the  tented  fields! 

— High  rears  the  Fiend  his  grinning  jaws,  and  wide 

Spans  the  pale  nations  with  coloffal  ftride, 

Waves  his  broad  falchion  with  uplifted  hand,  315 

And  his  vaft  fhadow  darkens  all  the  land. 

IX,   i.  "  Ethereal  Cohorts!  EfTences  of  Air! 
Make  the  green  children  of  the  Spring  your  care ! 
Oh,   Sylphs  f  difclofe  in  this  inquiring  age 
One  golden  fecret  to  fome  favour'd  fage;  320 

Grant  the  charm'd  talifman,  the  chain,  that  binds, 
Or  guides  the  changeful  pinions  of  the  winds ! 

ncy  fays,  the  hot  wind,  or  ramfin,  feems  to  blow  at  the  feafon  when  the 
fonds  of  the  deferts  are  the  hotteft ;  the  air  is  then  filled  with  an  extremely 
fubtle  duft.  Vol.  I.  p.  61.  Thefe  winds  blow  in  all  directions  from  the  de- 
ferts; in  Egypt  the  moft  violent  proceed  from  the  S.  S.  W;  at  Mecca,  from 
the  E.  at  Surat,  from  the  N.  at  Baffora,  from  the  N.  W.  at  Bagdad,  from 
the  W.  and  in  Syria,  from  the  S.  E. 

On  the  fouth  of  Syria,  he  adds,  where  the  Jordan  flows,  is  a  country  of 
volcanos ;  and  it  is  obferved,  that  the  earthquakes  in  Syria  happen  after  their 
ramy  feafon,  which  is  alfo  conformable  to  a  fimilar  obfervation  made  by  Dr« 
Shaw,  in  Barbary.  Travels  in  Egypt,  vol.  I.  p.  303. 

Thefe  winds  feem  all  to  be  of  volcanic  origin,  as  before  mentioned,  with 
this  difference,  that  the  fimoom  is  attended  with  a  ftream  of  eledtric  matter; 
they  feem  to  be  in  confequence  of  earthquakes  caufed  by  the  monfoon  floods, 
which  fall  on  volcanic  fires  in  Syria,  at  the  fame  time  that  they  inundate 
the  Nile. 

One  golden  fecret.  1.  320.  The  fuddennefs  of  the  change  of  the  wind  from 
N.  E.  to  S.  W.  feems  to  mew  that  it  depends  on  fome  minute  chemical  caufe, 
which,  if  it  was  difcovered,  might  probably,  like  other  chemical  caufes,  be 
governed  by  human  agency,  fuch  as  blowing  up  rocks  by  gun-powder,  or 
extracting  the  lightning  from  the  clouds.  If  this  could  be  accomplifhed,  it 
would  be  the  moil  happy  difcovery  that  ever  has  happened  in  thefe  northern 
latitudes,  fince  in  this  country  the  N.  E.  winds  bring  froft,  and  the  S  W. 
ones  are  attended  with  warmth  and  moifture  ;  if  the  inferior  currents  of  air 
could  be  kept  perpetually  from  the  S.  W.  fupplied  by  new  productions  of  air,, 
at  the  line,  or  by  fuperior  currents  flowing  in  a  contrary  direction,  the  ve- 
getation of  this  country  would  be  doubled,  as  in  the  moiit  vallifs  of  Africa, 
which  know  no  froft;  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  would  be  increafed,  arid 
their  lives  prolonged;  as  great  abundance  of  the  aged  and  infirm  of  mankind, 
as  well  as  many  birds  and  animals,  are  deflroyed  by  fevere  continued  froft* 
in  this  climate. 


11*  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  1, 

— No  more  (hall  hoary  Boreas,  iffuing  forth 

With  Eurus,  lead  the  tempefts  of  the  North ; 

Rime  the  pale  Dawn,  or  veil'd  in  flaky  fliowers  325 

Chill  the  fvveet  bofoms  of  the  fmiling  Hours* 

By  whifpering  Aufter  waked  fhall  Zephyr  rife, 

Meet  with  foft  kifs,  and  mingle  in  the  flues, 

Fan  the  gay  floret,  bend  the  yellow  ear, 

And  rock  the  uncurtain'd  cradle  of  the  year;  330 

Autumn  and  Spring  in  lively  union  blend, 

And  from  the  Ikies  the  golden  Age  defcend. 

a.  "  Caftled  on  ice,  beneath  the  circling  Bear, 
A  vaft  CAMELION  drinks  and  vomits  air; 
O'er  twelve  degrees  his  ribs  gigantic  bend,  335 

And  many  a  league  his  gafping  jaws  extend; 
Half-fifti,  beneath,  his  fcaly  volutes  fpread, 
And  vegetable  plumage  crefts  his  head ; 
Huge  fields  of  air  his  wrinkled  fkin  receives, 
From  panting  gills,  wide  lungs,  and  waving  leaves;          343 
Then  with  dread  throes  fubiides  his  bloated  form, 
His  fhriek  the  thunder,  and  his  figh  the  ftorm* 
Oft  high  in  heaven  the  biffing  Demon  wins 
His  towering  courfe,  upborne  on  winnowing  fins ; 
Steers  with  expanded  eye  and  gaping  mouth,  345 

His  mafs  enormous  to  the  affrighted  South ; 
Spreads  o'er  the  (huddering  Line  his  fhadowy  limbs, 
And  Froft  and  Famine  follow  as  he  fwims. — 
Sylphs  !  round  his  cloud-built  couch  your  bands  array, 
And  mould  the  Monfter  to  your  gentle  fway;  350 

Charm  with  foft  tones,  with  tender  touches  check, 
Bend  to  your  golden  yoke  his  willing  neck, 
With  filver  curb  his  yielding  teeth  reftrain, 
And  give  to  KIRWAN'S  hand  the  filken  rein. 


A  -oajl  Cametion.  1.  334.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXIII,  on  the  de» 
ftrudlion  and  re-produdion  of  the  atmofphere. 

To  Kiriuans  band.  \.  354.  Mr.  Kirwan  has  publiihed  a  valuable  treatife 
«n  the  temperature  of  climates,  as  a  ftep  towards  inveftigating  the  theory  of 
the  winds,  and  has  fince  written  fome  ingenious  papers  on  this  fubje<5l,  in  the 
Tranfadtions  of  the  Royal  Irifh  Society. 


CANTO  IV.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  213 

• — Pieafed  ihall  the  Sage,  the  dragon-wings  between,         355 

Bend  o'er  difcordant  climes  his  eye  ferene, 

With  Lapland  breezes  cool  Arabian  vales, 

And  call  to  Hindoftan  antar&ic  gales, 

Adorn  with  wreathed  ears  Kampichatca's  brows, 

And  fcatter  rofes  on  Zealandic  fnows,  360 

Earth's  wondering  Zones  the  genial  feafons  {hare, 

And  nations  hail  him  "  Monarch  of  the  Air" 

X.   i.  "  Sylphs  !  as  you  hover  on  ethereal  wing) 
Brood  the  green  children  of  parturient  Spring ! — 
Where  in  their  burfting  cells  my  Embryons  reft,  365 

I  charge  you,  guard  the  vegetable  neft ; 
Count  with  nice  eye  the  myriad  Seeds,  that  fwell 
Each  vaulted  womb  of  hufk,  or  pod,  or  (hell; 
Feed  with  fweet  juices,  clothe  with  downy  hair, 
Or  hang,  informed,  their  little  orbs  in  air.  370 

"  So,  late  defcry'd  by  HERSCHEL'S  piercing  fight, 
Hang  the  bright  fquadrons  of  the  twinkling  Night  j 
Ten  thoufand  marfhal'd  ftars,  a  filver  zone, 
Effufe  their  blended  luftres  round  her  throne ; 
Suns  call  to  funs,  in  lucid  clouds  confpire,  375 

And  light  exterior  fkies  with  golden  fire; 

The  myriad  feeds.  1.  367.  Nature  would  feefn  to  have  been  wonderfully 
prodigal  in  the  feeds  of  vegetables,  and  the  fpawn  of  fifh ;  almoft  any  one 
plant,  if  all  its  feeds  fhould  grow  to  maturity,  would,  in  a  few  years,  alone 
people  the  terreftrial  globe.  Mr.  Ray  afferts  that  1012  feeds  of  tobacco 
weighed  only  one  grain,  and  that  from  one  tobacco  plant  the  feeds  thus  cal- 
culated amounted  to  360,000.  The  feeds  of  the  ferns  are  by  him  fuppofed 
to  exceed  a  million  on  a  leaf.  As  the  works  of  nature  are  governed  by  ge- 
neral laws,  this  exuberant  re-produ6lion  prevents  the  accidental  extinction 
of  the  fpecies,  at  the  fame  time  that  they  ferve  for  food  for  the  higher  orders 
of  animation. 

Every  feed  poffeffes  a  refervoir  of  nutriment  defighed  for  the  growth  of 
the  future  plant ;  this  confifts  of  ftarch,  mucilage,  or  oil,  within  the  coat  of 
the  feed,  or  of  fugar  and  fub-acid  pulp  in  the  fruit,  which  belongs  to  it. 

For  the  prefervation  of  the  immature  feed,  nature  has  ufed  many  ingeni- 
ous methods;  fome  are  wrapped  in  down,  as  the  feeds  of  the  rofe,  bean,  and 
cotton-plant ;  others  are  fufpended  in  a  large  air-veffel,  as  thofe  of  the  blad- 
der-fena,  ftaphylsea,  and  pea. 

And  light  exterior.  1.  376.  I  fufpecl  this  line  is- from  Dwight's  Conqueft 
of  Canaan,  a  poem  written  by  a  very  yeung  man,  and  which  contains  much 
fine  verification. 

TART  I.  Q 


1 14  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Refiftlefs  rolls  the  illimitable  fphere, 

And  one  great  circle  forms  the  unmeafured  year. 

— Roll  on,  ye  Stars  !  exult  in  youthful  prime, 

Mark  with  bright  curves  the  printlefs  fteps  of  Time  j        380 

Near  and  more  near  your  beamy  cars  approach, 

And  leflening  orbs  on  leflening  orbs  encroach ; — 

Flowers  of  the  fky !  ye  too  to  age  muft  yield , 

Frail  as  your  filken  filters  of  the  fiejd ! 

Star  after  ftar  from  Heaven's  high  arch  {hall  ruih,  385 

Suns  fink  on  funs,  and  fyftems  lyftems  crufh, 

Headlong,  extinct,  to  one  dark  centre  fall, 

And  Death,  and  Night,  and  Chaos  mingle  all ! 

— Till  o'er  the  wreck,  emerging  from  the  ftorm, 

Immortal  NATURE  lifts  her  changeful  form,  390 

Mounts  from  her  funeral  pyre  on  wings  of  flame, 

And  foars  and  fhines,  another  and  the  fame. 

2.  "  Lo  !  on  each  &eed  within  its  {lender  rind 
Life's  golden  threads  in  endlefs  circles  wind ; 
Maze  within  maze  the  lucid  webs  are  roll'd,  395 

And,  as  they  burft,  the  living  flame  unfold. 


Near  and  more  near.  1.  381.  From  tlie  vacant  fpaces  in  feme  parts  of  the 
heavens,  and  the  cofrefpondent  clufters  of  ftars  in  their  vicinity,  Mr.  Her- 
fchel  concludes  that  the  nebulae,  or  conftellations  of  fixed  ftars,  are  approach- 
ing each  other,  and  muft  finally  coalefce  in  one  mafs.  Phil.  Tranf.  vol. 
LXXV. 

Till  o'er  the  ivreck.  1.  389.  The  ftory  of  the  phenix  rifing  from  its  own 
alhes,  with  a  twinkling  ftar  upon  its  head,  feems  to  have  been  an  ancient 
hieroglyphic  emblem  of  the  deftrudlion  and  refufcitation  of  all  things. 

There  is  a  figure  of  the  great  Platonic  year,  with  a  phenix  on  his  hand, 
on  the  reverfe  of  a  medal  of  Adrian.  Spence's  Polym.  p.  189. 

Maze  ivithin  maze.  1.  395.  The  elegant  appearance,  on  diffedHon,  of  the 
young  tulip  in  the  bulb,  was  firft  obferved  by  Mariotte,  and  is  mentioned 
in  the  note  on  tulipa,  in  vol.  II.  and  was  afterwards  noticed  by  Du  Hamel. 
Acad.  Scien.  Lewenhoeck  affures  us,  that  in  the  bud  of  a  currant-tree  he 
could  not  only  difcover  the  ligneous  part,  but  even  the  berries  themfelves, 
appearing  like  fmall  grapes.  Chamb.  Di6l.  art.  Bud.  Mr.  Baker  fays  he 
differed  a  feed  of  trembling  grafs  in  which  a  perfedt  plant  appeared,  with 
its  root  fending  forth  two  branches,  from  each  of  which  feveral  leaves, 
or  blades  of  grafs,  proceeded,  Microfc.  vol.  I.  p.  252.  Mr.  Bonnet  faw 
four  generations  of  fucceffive  plants  in  the  bulb  of  a  hyacinth.  Bonnet  Corps 
Organ,  vol.  I.  p.  103.  Haller's  Phyfiol.  vol.  I.  p.  91.  In  the  terminal 
bud  of  a  horfe-chefnut  the  new  flower  may  be  feen  by  the  naked  eye,  co- 
vered with  a  mucilaginous  down,  and  the  fame  in  the  bulb  of  a  narciffus, 


CAKTO  IV.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  Ji$ 

The  pulpy  acorn,  ere  it  fwells,  contains 

The  Oak's  vaft  branches  in  its  milky  veins  : 

Each  ravel'd  bud,  fine  film,  and  fibre-line 

Traced  with  nice  pencil  on  the  fmall  defign.  400 

The  young  Narciffiis,  in  its  bulb  comprefs'd, 

Cradles  a  fecond  neftling  on  its  breaft ; 

In  whofe  fine  arms  a  younger  embryon  lies, 

Folds  its  thin  leaves,  and-fhuts  its  floret-eyes; 

Grain  within  grain  fucceflive  harvefts  dwell,  405 

And  boundlefs  forefts  flumber  in  a  {Hell. 

— So  yon  grey  precipice,  and  ivy'd  towers, 

Long  winding  meads,  and  intermingled  bowers, 

Green  files  of  poplars,  o'er  the  lake  that  bow, 

And  glimmering  wheel,  which  rolls  and  foams  below,       410 

In  one  bright  point  with  nice  diftinction  lie 

Plann'd  on  the  moving  tablet  of  the  eye. 

— So,  fold  on  fold,  Earth's  wavy  plains  extend, 

And,  fphere  in  fphere,  its  hidden  ftrata  bend ; — 

Incumbent  Spring  her  beamy  plumes  expands  415 

O'er  refllefs  oceans,  and  impatient  lands, 

With  genial  luftres  warms  the  mighty  ball, 

And  the  GREAT  SEED  evolves,  difclofmg  All; 

LIFE  buds  or  breathes  from  Indus  to  the  Poles, 

And  the  vaft  furface  kindles  as  it  rolls !  420 

as  I  this  morning  obferved  in  feveral  of  them  fent  me  by  Mifs ,  for 

that  purpofe.  Sept.  16. 

Mr.  Ferber  fpeaks  of  the  pleafure  he  received  in  obferving  in  the  buds 
of  hepatica  and  pedicularis  hirfuta,  yet  lying  hid  in  the  earth,  and  in  the 
germs  of  the  fbrub  daphne  mezereon,  and  at  the  bafe  of  ofmunda  limaria,  a 
perfect  plant  of  the  future  year,  difcernible  in  all  its  parts  a  year  before  it 
comes  forth;  and  in  the  feeds  of  nymphea  nelumbo,  the  leaves  of  the  plant 
were  feen  fo  diftindly  that  the  author  found  out  by  them  what  plant  the 
feeds  belonged  to.  The  fame  of  the  feeds  of  the  tulip-tree,  or  liriodendron 
tulipiferum.  Amsen.  Acad.  vol.  VI. 

And  the  great  feed.  1.  418.  Alluding  to  the  TT^OTOV  <yoi>,  or  firft  great  egg 
of  the  ancient  philofophy;  it  had  a  ferpent  wrapped  round  it,  emblematical 
of  divine  wifdom;  an  image  of  it  was  afterwards  preferved,  and  worfhipped 
in  the  temple  of  Diofcuri,  and  fuppofed  to  reprefent  the  egg  of  Leda.  See 
a  print  of  it  in  Bryant's  Mythology.  It  was  faid  to  have  been  broken  by 
the  horns  of  the  celeftial  bull;  that  is,  it  was  hatched  by  the  warmth  of  the 
fpring.  See  note  on  Canto  I.  1.  413. 

And  the  vajf  furface.  1.  420.  L'Organization,  le  fentiment,  le  movement 
fpontane,  la  vie,  n'cxiftent  qu'a  la  furface  de  la  terre,  et  dans  le  lieux  ex- 
pofes  a  la  Imniere.  Traite  de  Chymie  par  M.  Lavoifier,  Tom.  I.  p.  aoj. 


n6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

3.   "  Come,  ye  foft  Sylphs  !  who  fport  on  Latian  land, 
Come,  fweet-lip'd  Zephyr,  and  Favonius  bland ! 
Teach  the  fine  Seed,  inftin£l  with  life,  to  (hoot 
On  Earth's  cold  bofom  its  defcending  root ; 
With  Pith  elaftic  ftretch  its  rifing  ftem,  425 

Part  the  twin  Lobes,  expand  the  throbbing  Gem ; 
Clafp  in  your  airy  arms  the  afpiring  Plume, 
Fan  with  your  balmy  breath  its  kindling  bloom, 
Each  widening  fcale  and  burfting  film  unfold, 
Swell  the  green  cup,  and  tint  the  flower  with  gold;  430 

While  in  bright  veins  the  filvery  Sap  afcends, 
And  refluent  blood  in  milky  eddies  bends ; 
While,  fpread  in  air,  the  leaves  refpiring  play, 
Or  drink  the  golden  quinteflence  of  day. 

Teach  the  fne  feed.  1.  423.  The  feeds,  in  their  natural  ftate,  fall  on  the 
furface  of  the  earth,  and,  having  abforbed  fome  moifture,  the  root  fhoots 
itfelf  downwards  into  the  earth,  and  the  plume  rifes  in  air.  Thus  each  en- 
deavouring to  feek  its  proper  pabulum,  directed  by  a  vegetable  irritability 
fimilar  to  that  of  the  la&eal  fyftem,  and  to  the  lungs  in  animals. 

The  pith  feems  to  puih  up  or  elongate  the  bud  by  its  elafticity,  like  the 
pith  in  the  callow  quills  of  birds.  This  medulla  Linnaeus  believes  to  confift, 
of  a  bundle  of  fibres,  which,  diverging,  breaks  through  the  bark,  yet  gela- 
tinous, producing  the  buds. 

The  lobes  are  refervoirs  of  prepared  nutriment  for  the  young  feed,  which 
is  abforbed  by  its  pjacental  veffels,  and  converted  into  fugar,  till  it  has  pene- 
trated with  its  roots  far  enough  into  the  earth  to  extract  fufficient  moifture, 
and  has  acquired  leaves  to  convert  it  into  nourifhment.  In  fome  plants  thefc 
lobes  rife  from  the  earth,  and  fupply  the  place  of  leaves,  as  in  kidney-beans, 
cucumbers;  and  hence  feem  to  ferve  both  as  a  placenta  to  the  foetus,  and 
lungs  to  the  young  plant.  During  the  procefs  of  germination,  the  ftarch. 
cf  the  feed  is  converted  into  fugar,  as  is  feen  in  the  procefs  of  malting  barley 
for  the  purpofe  of  brewing.  And  is,  on  this  account,  very  fimilar  to  the 
digeftion  of  food  in  the  ftomachs  of  animals,  which  converts  all  their  ali- 
ment into  a  chyle,  which  confifts  of  mucilage,  oil,  and  fugar:  the  placenta- 
tion  of  buds  will  be  fpoken  of  hereafter. 

The  filvery  fap.  1.  431.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXV. 

And  refluent  blood.  1.  432.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXVI. 

The  leaves  refpiring  play.  1.  433.      See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXVII. 

Or  drink  the  golden.  1.  434.  Linnxus,  having  obferved  the  great  influence 
of  light  on  vegetation,  imagined  that  the  leaves  of  plants  inhaled  electric 
matter  from  the  light  with  their  upper  furface.  (Syftem  of  Vegetables 
tranflated,  p.  8.) 

The  effecl  of  light  on  plants  occafions  the  adions  of  the  vegetable  mufcles 
of  their  leaf-ftalks,  which  turn  the  upper  fide  of  the  leaf  to  the  light,  and 
which  open  their  calyxes  and  corols,  according  to  the  experiments  of  Abbe 
Teflier,  who  expofed  variety  of  plants,  in  a  cavern,  to  different  quantities  of 
light.  Hift.  de  L'Academie  Royal.  Ann,  1783.  The  fleep  or  vigilance 
of  plants  feem?  owing  to  the  prefence  or  abfence  of  this  ftimulus.  See  note 
on  Mimofa,  Part  II. 


CANTO  IV.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  117- 

• — So  from  his  fhell  on  Delta's  fhower-lefs  ifle  435 

Burfts  into  life  the  Monfter  of  the  Nile ; 

Firft  in  tranflucent  lymph  with  cohweb-threads 

The  Brain's  fine  floating  tiffue  fwells,  and  fpreads ; 

Nerve  after  nerve  the  gliftening  fpine  defcends, 

The  red  Heart  dances,  the  Aorta  bends  ;  440 

Through  each  new  gland  the  purple  current  glides, 

New  Veins  meandering  drink  the  refluent  tides  j 

Edge  o'er  edge  expands  the  hardening  fcale, 

And  fheaths  his  flimy  fkin  in  filver  mail, 

•c— Erewhile,  emerging  from  the  brooding  fand,  445 

With  Tyger-paw  He  prints  the  brinelefs  ftrand, 

High  on  the  flood  with  fpeckled  bofom  fwims, 

Helm'd  with  broad  tail,  and  oar'd  with  giant  limbs; 

Rolls  his  fierce  eye-balls,  clafps  his  iron  claws, 

And  champs  with  gnafhing  teeth  his  mafly  jaws;  450 

Old  Nilus  fighs  along  his  cane-crown'd  fhores, 

And  fwarthy  Memphis  trembles  and  adores. 

XL  "  Come,  ye  foft  Sylphs  !  who  fan  the  Paphian  groves, 
And  bear  on  fportive  wings  the  callow  Loves ; 
Call  with  fweet  whifper,  in  each  gale  that  blows,  455 

The  flumbering  Snow-drop  from  her  long  repofe ; 
Charm  the  pale  Primrofe  from  her  clay-cold  bed, 
Unveil  the  bafhful  Violet's  tremulous  head ; 
While  from  her  bud  the  playful  Tulip  breaks, 
And  young  Carnations  peep  with  blufhing  cheeks;  460 

Bid  the  clofed  Corel  from  nocturnal  cold 
Curtain'd  with  filk  the  virgin  Stigma  fold, 
Shake  into  viewlefs  air  the  morning  dews, 
And  wave  in  light  its  iridefcent  hues. 

So  {"hall  from  high  the  burfting  Anther  truft  465 

To  the  mild  breezes  the  prolific  duft ; 
Or  bow  his  waxen  head  wich  graceful  pride, 
Watch  the  firft  blufhes  of  his  waking  bride, 
Give  to  her  hand  the  honey'd  cup,  or' ftp 
Celeftial  ne&ar  from  her  fweeter  lip ;  470 

Honey  d  cup.  \.  469.     The  neclary,  or  honey-gland,  fuppli'es  food  to  the 
vegetable  males  and  females,  which,  like  moth*  and  butterflies, 'live  on  the 


ii8  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Hang  in  foft  raptures  o'er  the  yielding  Fair, 

Love  out  his  hour,  and  leave  his  life  in  air. 

So  in  his  iilken  fepulchre  the  Worm, 

Warm'd  with  new  life,  unfolds  his  larva-form; 

Erewhile  aloft  in  wanton  circles  moves,  475 

And  woos  on  Hymen-wings  his  velvet  loves. 

XII.   i.  "If  prouder  branches  with  exuberance  rude 
Point  their  green  gems,  their  barren  ilioots  protrude; 
Wound  them,  ye  Sylphs  f  with  little  knives,  or  bind 
A  wiry  ringlet  round  the  fwelling  rind ;  480 


honey  thus  produced  for  them,  till  they  have  propagated  their  fpecies,  and 
deposited  their  eggs,  and  then  die;  as  explained  in  additional  note,  No. 
XXXIX.  The  tops  of  the  ftamens,  or  anthers,  are  covered  with  wax,  to 
protect  the  prolific  duft  from  the  injury  of  fliowers  and  dews,  to  which  it 
is  impervious. 

Love  out  his  hour.  1.  472.  The  vegetable  paflion  of  love  is  agreeably 
feen  in  the  flower  of  the  parnaflia,  in  which  the  males  alternately  approach 
and  recede  from  the  female,  and  in  the  flower  of  nigella,  or  devil  in  the 
bufli,  in  which  the  tall  females  bend  down  to  their  dwarf  hufbands.  But  I 
was  this  morning  furprifed  to  obferve,  amongft  Sir  Brooke  Boothby's  valua- 
ble collection  of  plants  at  Afhbourn,  the  manifefl  adultery  of  feveral  females 
of  the  plant  Collinfonia,  who  had  bent  themfelves  into  contact  with  the 
males  of  other  flowers  of  the  fame  plant  in  their  vicinity,  neglectful  of  their 
own.  Sept.  16.  See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXVIII. 

Unfolds  his  larva-form.  1.  474.  The  flower  burfts  forth  from  its  larva,  the 
herb,  naked  and  perfect  like  a  butterfly  from  its  chryfalis;  winged  with  its 
corol;  wing-fheathed  by  its  calyx;  confifting  alone  of  the  organs  of  repro- 
duction. The  males,  or  ftamens,  have  their  anthers  replete  with  a  prolific 
powder,  coptaining  the  vivifying  fovilla ;  in  the  females,  or  piftils,  exifts  the 
ovary,  terminated  by  the  tubular  ftigma.  When  the  anthers  burft  and  fhed 
their  bags  of  duft,  the  male  fovilla  is  received  by  the  prolific  lymph  of  the 
ftigma,  and  produces  the  feed  or  egg,  which  is  nourlflied  in  the  ovary.  Syf- 
tem  of  Vegetables,  tranflated  from  Linnaeus  by  the  Lichfield  Society,  p.  10. 

Wound  them,  ye  Sylphs.  1.  479.  Mr.  Whitmill  advifed  to  bind  fome  of 
the  moft  vigorous  flioots  with  ftrong  wire,  and  even  fome  of  the  large  roots; 
and  Mr.  Warner  cuts  what  he  calls  a  wild  worm  about  the  body  of  the  tree, 
or  fcores  the  bark  quite  to  the  wood,  like  a  fcrew,  with  a  fharp  knife. 
Bradley  on  Gardening,  vol.  II.  p.  155.  Mr.  Fitzgerald  produced  flowers 
and  fruit  on  wall-trees  by  cutting  off  a  part  of  the  bark.  Phil.  Tranf.  Ann. 
1761.  M.  Buffon  produced  the  fame  effect  by  a  ftraight  bandage  put  round 
a  branch,  Act.  Paris,  Ann.  1738,  and  concludes  that  an  ingrafted  branch 
bears  better  from  its  veflels  being  comprefied  by  the  callus. 

A  complete  cylinder  of  the  bark,  about  an  inch  in  height,  was  cut  off 
from  the  branch  of  a  pear-tree,  againft  a  wall,  in  Mr.  Howard's  garden,  at 
Lichfield,  about  five  years  ago;  the  circumcifed  part  is  now  not  above  half 
the  diameter  of  the  branch  above  and  below  it,  yet  this  branch  has  been 
full  of  fruit  every  year  fince,  when  the  ether  branches  of  the  tree  bore  only 


CANTO  IV.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION. 

Bifeft  with  chiflel  fine  the  root  below, 
Or  bend  to  earth  the  inhofpitable  bough. 
So  fhall  each  Germ  with  new  prolific  power 
Delay  the  leaf-bud,  and  expand  the  flower ; 


fparingly.  I  lately  obferved  that  the  leaves  of  this  wounded  branch  were 
fmaller  and  paler,  and  the  fruit  lefs  in  fize,  and  ripened  fooner  than  on  the 
other  parts  of  the  tree.  Another  branch  has  the  bark  taken  off  not  quite  ail 
round,  with  much  the  fame  effect. 

The  theory  of  this  curious  vegetable  fact  has  been  efteemed  difficult,  but 
receives  great  light  from  the  foregoing  account  of  the  individuality  of  budsi 
A  flower-bud  dies,  when  it  has  perfected  its  feed,  like  an  annual  plant,  and 
hence  requires  no  place  on  the  bark  for  new  roots  to  pafs  downwards;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  leaf-buds,  as  they  advance  into  fhoots,  form  new  buds  in 
the  axilla  of  every  leaf,  which  new  buds  require  new  roots  to  pafs  down  the 
bark,  and  thus  thicken  as  well  as  elongate  the  branch:  now,  if  a  wire  or 
firing  be  tied  round  the  bark,  many  of  thefe  new  roots  cannot  defcend,  and 
thence  more  of  the  buds  will  be  converted  into  flower-buds. 

It  is  cuftomary  to  debark  oak-trees  in  the  fpring,  which  are  intended  ttf 
be  felled  in  the  enfuing  autumn,  becaufe  the  bark  comes  off  eafier  at  this 
feafon,  and  the  fap-\vood,  or  alburnum,  is  believed  to  become  harder  and 
more  durable,  if  the  tree  remains  till  the  end  of  fummer.  The  trees,  thus 
ftripped  of  their  bark,  put  forth  fhoots  as  ufual,  with  acorns,  on  the  6th,  yth, 
and  8th  joint,  like  vines;  but  in  the  branches  I  examined,  the  joints  of  the 
debarked  trees  were  much  fhorter  than  thofe  of  other  oak-trees;  the  acorns 
were  more  numerous;  and  no  new  buds  were  produced  above  the  joints 
•which  bore  acorns.  From  hence  it  appears  that  the  branches  of  debarked 
oak-trees  produce  fewer  leaf-buds,  and  more  flower-buds,  which  laft  circum- 
ftance,  I  fuppofe,  muft  depend  on  their  being  fooner  or  later  debarked  in  the 
vernal  months.  And,  fecondly,  that  the  new  buds  of  debarked  oak-trees 
continue  to  obtain  moifture  from  the  alburnum,  after  the  feafon  of  the  afcent 
of  fap  in  other  vegetables  ceafes;  which,  in  this  unnatural  {late  of  the  de- 
barked tree,  may  act  as  capillary  tubes,  like  the  alburnum  of  the  fmall  de- 
barked cylinder  of  a  pear-tree  above-mentioned ;  or  may  continue  to  act  as 
placental  veffels,  as  happens  to  the  animal  embrydn  in  cafes  of  fuperfetation; 
when  the  foetus  continues  a  month  or  two  in  the  womb  beyond  its  ufual 
time,  of  which  fome  inftances  have  been  recorded,  the  placenta  continues  to 
fupply,  perhaps,  the  double  office  both  of  nutrition  and  of  refpiration. 

Or  bend  to  earth.  1.  482.  Mr.  Hitt,  in  his  treatife  on  fruit-trees,  obferves, 
that  if  a  vigorous  branch  of  a  Wall-tree  be  bent  to  the  horizon,  or  beneath 
it,  it  lofes  its  vigour,  and  becomes  a  bearing  branch.  The  theory  of  this  I 
fuppofe  to  depend  on  the  difficulty  with  which  the  leaf-fhoots  can  protrude 
the  roots  neceflary  for  their  new  progeny  of  buds  upwards,  along  the  bended 
branch,  to  the  earth,  contrary  to  their  natural  habits  or  powers,  whence 
more  flower-lhoots  are  produced,  which  do  not  require  new  roots  to  pafs 
along  the  bark  of  the  bended  branch,  but  which  let  their  offspring,  the  feeds, 
fall  upon  the  earth,  and  feek  roots  for  themfelves. 

With  ne<w  prolific  poive r.  1.483.  About  Midfummer  the  new  buds  arc 
formed,  but  it  is  believed  by  fome  of  the  Linnasan  fchool,  that  thefe  buds 
may,  in  their  early  ftate,  be  either  converted  into  flower-buds  or  leaf-buds, 
according  to  the  vigour  of  the  vegetating  branch.  Thus,  if  the  upper  part  of 
a  branch  be  cut  away,  the  buds  near  the  extremity  of  the  remaining  ftem, 


120  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

• 

Clofed  in  the  Style  the  tender  Pith  (hall  end,  485 

The  lengthening  Wood  in  circling  Stamens  bend ; 

The  fmoother  Rind  its  foft  embroidery  fpread 

In  vaulted  Petals  o'er  the  gorgeous  bed ; 

The  wrinkled  bark,  in  filmy  mazes  roll'd, 

Form  the  green  Calyx,  fold  including  fold ;  490 

Each  widening  Bra  fie  expand  its  foliage  hard, 

And  hem  the  bright  pavillion,  Floral  Guard. 

— So  the  cold  rill  from  CINTRA'S  fteepy  fides, 

Headlong,  abrupt,  in  barren  channels  glides ; 

Round  the  rent  cliffs  the  bark- bound  Suber  fpreads,  495 

And  lazy  monks  recline  on  corky  beds ; 

Till,  led  by  art,  the  wondering  water  moves 

Through  vine-hung  avenues,  and  citron  groves; 

Green  Hopes  the  velvet  round  its  filver  fource, 

And  flowers,  and  fruits,  and  foliage  mark  its  courfe,         500 

At  breezy  eve,  along  the  irriguous  plain 

The  fair  Beckfordia  leads  her  virgin  train; 

Seeks  the  cool  grot,  the  fhadowy  rocks  among, 

And  tunes  the  mountain-echoes  to  her  fong; 

Or  prints  with  graceful  fteps  the  margin  green,  505 

And  brighter  glories  gild  the  enchanted  fcene. 


having  a  greater  proportional  fupply  of  nutriment,  or  pofiefling  a  greater  fa- 
cility of  fhooting  their  roots,  or  abforbent  veflels,  down  the  bark,  will  be- 
come leaf-buds,  which  might  otherwife  have  been  flower-buds,  and  the  con- 
trary; as  explained  in  note  on  1.  479  of  this  Canto. 

Clofed  in  the  Style.  1.  485.  "  I  conceive  the  medulla  of  a  plant  to  confifl 
of  a  bundle  of  nervous  fibres,  and  that  the  propelling  vital  power  feparates 
their  uppermoft  extremities.  Thefe,  diverging,  penetrate  the  bark,  which 
is  now  gelatinous,  and  become  multiplied  in  the  new  gem,  or  leaf-bud. 
*i'he  afcending  veffels  of  the  bark  being  thus  divided  by  the  nervous  fibres, 
which  perforate  it,  and  the  afcent  of  its  fluids  being  thus  impeded,  the  bark 
is  extended  into  a  leaf.  But  the  flower  is  produced,  when  the  protrufion  of 
the  medulla  is  greater  than  the  retention  of  the  including  cortical  part; 
Whence  the  fubftance  of  the  bark  is  expanded  in  the  calyx;  that  of  the  rin.l 
(or  interior  bark),  in  the  corol;  that  of  the  wood,  in  the  ftamens;  that  of  the 
medulla,  in  the  piftil.  Vegetation  thus  terminates  in  the  production  of  new 
life,  the  ultimate  medullary  and  cortical  fibres  being  collected  in  the  feeds." 
Linnsii  Syflema  Veget.  p.  6.  edit.  J4. 

Cintra.  1.  493.  A  village  on  the  fide  of  the  rock  of  Lifbon:  around  the 
fummit  are  abundance  of  cork  trees,  and  Ibme  excavations,  which  a  few 
monks  inhabit,  and  fleep  on  beds  or  benches  of  cork;  near  the  village  Mr. 
Beckford  has  an  elegant  feat. 


CANTO  IV.      ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION  iai 

2.  "  Where  cruder  juices  fwell  the  leafy  vein^ 
Stint  the  young  germ,  the  tender  bloflbm  ftain  i 
On  each  lopp'd  fhoot  a  fofter  fcion  bind, 
Pith  prefs'd  to  pith,  and  rind  applied  to  rindj  5X0 

So  fhall  the  trunk  with  loftier  creft  afcend, 
And  wide  in  air  its  happier  arms  extend  ; 
Nurfe  the  new  buds,  admire  the  leaves  unknown* 
And  bluihing  bend  with  fruitage  not  its  own. 

"  Thus  when  in  holy  triumph  Aaron  trod*  5!  j 

And  offer'd  on  the  fhrine  his  myftic  rodj 
Firfl  a  new  bark  its  filken  tiffue  weaves* 
New  buds  emerging  widen  into  leaves  ; 
Fair  fruits  protrude,  enafcent  flowers  expand* 
And  blufh  and  tremble  round  the  living  wand. 


XIII.   i.  "Sylphs!  on  each  Oak-bud  wound  the  wormy 

galls 

With  pigmy  fpears,  or  crufti  the  venom'd  balls  ; 
Fright  the  green  Locuft  from  his  foamy  bed, 
Unweave  the  Caterpillar's  gluey  thread; 
Chafe  the  fierce  Earwig,  fcare  the  bloated  Toad,  525 

Arreft  the  Snail  upon  his  flimy  road  ; 
Arm  with  (harp  thorns  the  Sweet-briar's  tender  wood, 
And  dafti  the  Cynips  from  her  damafk  bud  j 


Nurfe  the  netu  buds.  1.  513.  Mr.  Fairchild  bucided  a  paffion-tree,  whofe 
leaves  were  fpotted  with  yellow,  into  one  which  bears  long  fruit.  The  budd 
did  not  take;  neverthelefs,  in  a  fortnight,  yellow  fpots  began  to  fhew  them- 
felves  about  three  feet  above  the  inoculation,  and  in  a  fhort  time  afterwards 
yellow  fpots  appeared  on  a  fhoot  which  came  out  of  the  ground  from  an- 
other part  of  the  plant.  Bradley,  vol.  II.  p.  129.  Thefe  fadts  are  the  more 
curious,  fince,  from  experiments  of  ingrafting  red  currants  on  black,  (ib* 
vol.  II.)  the  fruit  does  not  acquire  any  change  of  flavour,  and,  by  many  other 
experiments,  neither  colour,  nor  any  other  change,  is  produced  in  the  fruit 
ingrafted  on  other  flocks. 

There  is  an  apple  defcribed  in  Bradley's  work,  which  is  faid  to  have  one 
fide  of  it  a  fweet  fruit,  which  boils  foft,  and  the  other  fide  a  four  fruit, 
which  boils  hard,  which  Mr.  Bradley,  jp  long  ago  as  the  year  1721,  inge- 
nioufly  afcribes  to  the  farina  of  one  of  thefe  apples  impregnating  the  other, 
which  would  feem  the  more  probable  if  we  confider  that  each  divifion  of 
an  apple  is  a  feparate  womb,  and  may,  therefore,  have  a  feparate  impregna- 
tion, like  puppies  of  different  kinds  in  one  litter.  The  fame  is  faid  to  have 
occurred  in  oranges  and  lemons,  and  grapes  of  different  colours, 

PART  I.  R 


is*  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PA*T  t 

Steep  in  ambrofial  dews  the  Woodbine's  bells, 

And  drive  the  Night-moth  from  her  honey 'd  cells.  530 

So  where  the  Humming-bird  in  Chili's  bowers 

On  murmuring  pinions  robs  the  pendent  flowers ; 

Seeks,  where  fine  pores  their  dulcet  balm  diftil, 

And  fucks  the  treafure  with  probofcis-bill ; 

Fair  CYPREPEDIA,  with  fuccefsful  guile,  53$ 

Knits  her  fmooth  brow,  extinguimes  her  fmile; 

A  Spider's  bloated  paunch  and  jointed  arms 

Hide  her  fine  form,  and  mafk  her  blufhing  charms  j 

In  ambufli  fly  the  mimic  warrior  lies, 

And  on  quick  wing  the  panting  plunderer  flies.  546 

2.  "  Shield  the  young  Harveft  from  devouring  blight, 
The  Smut's  dark  poifon,  and  the  Mildew  white; 


Thf'ir  dulcet  balm  JiftiL  1  533.     See  additional  notes,  No.  XXXIX. 

fair  Cyprepedla,  1.  535.  The  cyprepedium  from  South-America  is  {"up* 
Jsofed  to  be  of  larger  fize,  and  brighter  colours,  than  that  from  North-Ame- 
rica, from  which  this  print  is  taken ;  it  has  a  large  globular  nectary,  about 
the  fize  of  a  pigeon's  egg,  of  a  flefhy  colour,  and  an  incilion,  or  depreflion, 
on  its  upper  part,  much  refembling  the  body  of  the  large  American  fpider: 
this  globular  ne«5tary  is  attached  to  divergent  (lender  petals,  not  unlike  the 
legs  of  the  fame  animal.  This  fpider  is  called  by  Linnasus  arenea  avicularia, 
with  a  convex  orbicular  thorax,  the  centre  tranfverfely  excavated;  he  adds, 
that  it  catches  fmall  birds  as  well  as  infects,  and  has  the  venomous  bite  of  a 
ferpent.  Syftem.  Natur.  Tom.  I.  p.  1034.  M.  Lonvilliers  de  Poincy,  (Hi- 
ftoire  Nat.  des  Antilles,  Cap.  xiv.  art.  III.)  calls  it  phalange,  and  defcribes  the 
body  to  be  the  fize  of  a  pigeon's  egg,  with  a  hollow  on  its  back  like  a  navel, 
and  mentions  its  catching  the  humming-bird  in  its  ftrong  nets. 

The  fimilitude  of  this  flower 'to  this  great  fpider,  feems  to  be  a  vegetable 
contrivance  to  prevent  the  humming-bird  from  plundering  its  honey.  About 
Matlock,  in  Derbyfhire,  the  fly-ophris  is  produced,  the  nectary  of  which 
fb  much  refembles  the  fmall  wall-bee,  perhaps  the  apis  ichneumonea,  that  it 
may  be  eafily  miftaken  for  it  at  a  fmall  diftance.  It  is  probable  that  by 
this  means  it  may  often  efcape  being  plundered.  See  note  on  lonicera,  in 
the  next  poem. 

A  bird  of  our  own  country,  called  a  willow-wren  (motacilla)  runs  up  the 
ftem  of  the  crown-imperial  (frittillaria  coronalis)  and  lips  the  pendulous 
drops  within  its  petals.  This  fpecies  of  motacilla  is  called  by  Ray  regulus 
non  criftatus.  White's  Hilt,  of  Selborne. 

Shield  the  young  harveji.  1.  541.  Linnaeus  enumerates  but  four  difeafes  of 
plants;  Eryfyche,  the  white  mucor,  or  mould,  with  feflile  tawny  heads, 
with  which  the  leaves  are  fprinkled,  as  is  frequent  on  the  hop,  humulus,  ma- 
ple, acer,  &c.  Rubigo,  the  ferrugineous  powder  fprinkled  under  the  leaves, 
frequent  in  lady's  mantle,  alchemilla,  &c. 

Clavus,  when  the  feeds  grow  out  into  larger  horns,  black  without,  as  ili 
rye.  This  is  called  Ergot  by  the  French  writers, 


t 


CANTO  IV.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  123 

Deep-rooted  Mould,  and  Ergot's  horn  uncouth, 

And  break  the  Canker's  defolating  tooth. 

Firft  in  one  point  the  fettering  wound  confined  545 

Mines  unperceived  beneath  the  fhrivePd  rind ; 

Then  climbs  the  branches  with  increafing  ftrength, 

Spreads  as  they  fpread,  and  lengthens  with  their  length. 

— Thus  the  flight  wound,  ingraved  on  glafs  unneal'd, 

Runs  in  white  lines  along  the  lucid  field  •  550 

Crack  follows  crack,  to  laws  elaftic  juft, 

And  the  frail  fabric  fhivers  into  duft. 


Uftulago,  when  the  fruit,  inftead  of  feed,  produces  a  black  powder,  as  in 
barley,  oats,  &c.  To  which,  perhaps,  the  honey-dew  ought  to  have  been 
added,  and  the  canker;  in  the  former  of  which  the  nourifhing  fluid  of  the 
plant  feems  to  be  exfuded  by  a  retrograde  motion  of  the  cutaneous  lympha- 
tics, as  in  the  fweating  ficknefs  of  the  laft  century.  The  latter  is  a  phage- 
denic  ulcer  of  the  bark,  very  deftructive  to  young  apple-trees,  and  which,  in 
cherry-trees,  is  attended  with  a  depofition  of  gum  arabic,  which  often  ter- 
minates in  the  death  of  the  tree. 

Ergot's  horn.  1.  543.  There  is  a  difeafe  frequently  aflfe&s  the  rye  in 
France,  and  fometimes  in  England  in  moift  feafons,  which  is  called  Ergot, 
or  horn-feed ;  the  grain  becomes  confiderably  elongated,  and  is  either  ftraight 
or  crooked,  containing  black  meal  along  with  the  white,  and  appears  to  be 
pierced  by  infefts,  which  were  probably  the  caufe  of  the  difeafe.  Mr.  Du 
Hamel  afcribes  it  to  this  caufe,  and  compares  it  to  galls  on  oak-leaves.  By 
the  ufe  of  this  bad  grain  amongft  the  poor,  difeafes  have  been  produced,  at- 
tended with  great  debility,  and  mortification  of  the  extremities,  both  in 
France  and  England.  Did:.  Raifon.  art.  Siegle.  Phil.  Tranf. 

On  glafs  tinneal'd.  1.  549.  The  glafs-makers  occafionally  make  what  they 
call  proofs,  which  are  cooled  haftily,  whereas  the  other  glafs  veflels  are  re- 
moved from  warmer  ovens  to  cooler  ones,  and  fuffered  to  cool  by  flow  de- 
grees, which  is  called  annealing,  or  healing  them.  If  an  unnealed  glafs  be 
Scratched  by  even  a  grain  of  fand  falling  into  it,  it  will  feem  to  confi- 
der  of  it  for  fome  time,  or  even  a  day,  and  will  then  crack  into  a  thou- 
fand  pieces. 

The  fame  happens  to  a  fmooth  furfaced  lead-ore  in  Derbyfhire ;  the  work- 
men, having  cleared  a  large  face  of  it,  fcratch  it  with  picks,  and,  in  a  few 
hours,  many  tons  of  it  crack  to  pieces,  and  fall,  with  a  kind  of  exploiion. 
Whitehurft's  Theory  of  the  Earth. 

Glafs  dropped  into  cold  water,  called  Prince  Rupert's  drops,  explode,  when 
a  fmall  part  of  their  tails  are  broken  off",  more  fuddenly  indeed,  but  proba- 
bly from  the  fame  caufe.  Are  the  internal  particles  of  thefe  elaftic  bodies 
kept  fo  far  from  each  other  by  the  external  cruft,  that  they  are  nearly  in  a 
ftate  of  repulfion,  into  which  ftate  they  are  thrown  by  their  vibrations 
from  any  violence  applied  ?  Or,  like  elaftic  balls  in  certain  proportions  fuf- 
pended  in  contact  with  each  other,  can  motion,  once  begun,  be  increafed  by 
their  elafticity,  till  the  whole  explodes?  And  can  this  power  be  applied  to 
any  mechanical  purpofcs  ? 


J*4  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

XIV.  i.  "  Sylphs  !  if  with  morn  deftru£Kve  Eurus  fprings, 
O,  clafp  the  Harebel  with  your  velvet  wings; 
Screen  with  thick  leaves  the  Jafmine  as  it  blows,  555 

And  {hake  the  white  rime  from  the  {huddering  Rofe  j 
Whilft  Amaryllis  turns  with  graceful  eafe 
Her  bluihing  beauties,  and  eludes  the  breeze.  — 
Sylphs  !  if  at  noon  the  Fritillary  droops, 
With  drops  neclareous  hang  her  nodding  cups  ;  560 

Thin  clouds  of  goflamer  in  air  difplay, 
And  hide  the  vale's  chafte  Lily  from  the  ray  ; 
Whilft  Erythrina  o'er  her  tender  flower 
Bends  all  her  leaves,  and  braves  the  fultry  hour;  — 
Shield,  when  cold  Hefper  {beds  his  dewy  light,  565 

Mimofa's  foft  fenfations  from  the  night  ; 
Fold  her  thin  foliage,  clofe  her  timid  flowers, 
And  with  ambrofial  {lumbers  guard  her  bowers  ; 
O'er  each  warm  wall  while  Cerea  flings  her  arms, 
waftes  on  night's  dull  eye  a  blaze  of  charms. 


2.  "  Round  her  tall  Elm  with  dewy  fingers  twine 
The  gadding  tendrils  of  the  adventurous  Vine  ; 
From  arm  to  arm  in  gay  feftoons  fufpend 
Her  fragrant  flowers,  her  graceful  foliage  bend  ; 
Swell  with  fweet  juice  her  vermil  orbs,  and  feed  575 

Shrined  in  tranfparent  pulp  her  pearly  feed  ; 
Hang  round  the  Orange  all  her  filver  bells, 
And  guar^l  her  fragrance  with  Hefperian  fpells  ; 


With  amlrofsal  fmmlers.  \.  568.  Many  vegetables,  during  the  night,  do 
riot  feem  to  reipire,  but  to  flccp  like  the  dormant  animals  and  infecls  in  win- 
ter. This  appears  from,  the  mimofa  and  many  other  plants  clofing  the  upper 
iides  of  their  leaves  together  in  their  ileep,  and  thus  precluding  that  fide  of 
them  from  both  light  and  air.  And  from  many  flowers  clofing  up  the  po- 
liihed  or  interior  fide  of  their  petals,  which  we  have  alfo  endeavoured  to 
fliew  to  be  a  refpiratory  organ. 

The  irritability  of  plants  is  abundantly  evinced  by  the  abforption  and  pul- 
monary circulation  of  their  juices;  their  lenfibility  is  fhewn  by  the  approaches 
of  the  males  to  the  females,  and  of  the  females  to  the  males,  in  numerous  in- 
ftance.s ;  and,  as  the  efiential  circumftance  of  fleep  confifts  in  the  temporary 
abolition  of  voluntary  power  alone,  the  fleep  of  plants  evinces  that  they  pof- 
fcfs  voluntary  power;  which  alfo  indifputably  appears  in  many  of  them,  by 
clofing  their  petals  or  their  leaves  during  cold,  or  rain,  or  darknefs,  or  from 
mechanic  violence. 


o   • 


» 


CANTO  IV.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  125 

Bud  after  bud  her  polifli'd  leaves  unfold, 

And  load  her  branches  with  fucceflive  gold.  580 

So  the  learn'd  Alchemift  exulting  fees 
•a  Rife  in  his  bright  matrafs  DIANA'S  trees; 
'    Drop  after  drop,  with  juft  delay  he  pours 

The  red-fumed  acid  on  Potofi's  ores ; 

With  fudden  flafh  the  fierce  bullitions  rife,  585 

And  wide  in  air  the  gas  phlogiftic  flies ; 

Slow  fhoot,  at  length,  in  many  a  brilliant  mafs 

Metallic  roots  acrofs  the  netted  glafs ; 

Branch  after  branch  extend  their  filver  ftems, 

Bud  into  gold,  and  blorTbm  into  gems.  590 

"  So  fits  enthron'd  in  vegetable  pride 
Imperial  KEW  by  Thames's  glittering  fide; 
Obedient  fails  from  realms  unfurrow'd  bring 
For  her  the  unnam'd  progeny  of  fpring ; 


Diana  s  trees.  I.  582.  The  chemifts  and  aftronomers,  from  the  earlieft  an- 
liquity,  have  ufed  the  fame  characters  to  reprefent  the  metals  and  the  planets, 
which  were  moft  probably  outlines  or  abftradls  of  the  original  hieroglyhic 
figures  of  Egypt.  Thefe  afterwards  acquired  niches  in  their  temples,  and 
leprefented  Gods  as  well  as  metals  and  planets;  whence  filver  is  called  Di- 
ana, or  the  moon,  in  the  books  of  alchemy. 

,  The  procefs  for  making  Diana's  filver  tree  is  thus  defcribed  by  Lemeri. 
Diffplve  one  ounce  of  pure  filver  in  acid  of  nitre,  very  pure,  and  moderately 
ftrotig;  mix'thVfolution  with  about  twenty  ounces  of  diftilled  water;  add 
to  this  two  ourfces  of  mercury,  and  let  it  remain  at  reft,  In  about  four  days 
there  will  form  tqisn  the  mercury  a  tree  of  filver,  with  branches  imitating 
vegetation. 

I.  As  the  mercury  has  a  greater  affinity  than  filver  with  the  nitrous  acid, 
the  filver  becomes  precipit££e'd  ;  and,  being  deprived  of  the  nitrous  oxygenc  • 
by  the  mercury,  finks  dowjftjn  its  metallic  form  and  luftre.  a.  The  attrac- 
tion between  filver  and  mercury,  which  caufes  them  readily  to  amalgamate 
together,  occafions  the  precipitated  filver  to  adhere  to  the  furface  of  the 
mercury  in  preference  to  any  other  part  of  the  vefTel.  3.  The  attraction  of 
the  particles  of  the  precipitated  filver  to  each  other,  caufes  the  beginning 
branches  to.  thicken  and  elongate  into  trees  and  {hrubs  rooted  on  the  mer- 
cury. For  other  circumftances  concerning  this  beautiful  experiment,  fee  Mr. 
Keir's  Chemical  Dictionary,  art.  Arbor  Dianae;  a  work,  perhaps,  of  greater 
utility  to  mankind  than  the  loft  Alexandrian  Library,  the  continuacion  of 
which  is  fo  eagerly  expe&ed  by  all  who  are  occupied  in  the  arts,  or  attached 
to  the  fciences. 


- 


ia<5  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Attendant  Nymphs  her  dulcet  mandates  hear,  595 

And  nurfe  in  foftering  arms  the  tender  year, 

Plant  the  young  hulb,  inhume  the  living  feed, 

Prop  the  weak  ftem,  the  erring  tendril  lead ;  ( 

Or  fan  in  glafs-buili  fanes  the  ftranger  flowers 

With  milder  gales,  and  fteep  with  warmer  fhowers.          600 

Delighted  Thames  through  tropic  umbrage  glides, 

And  flowers  antar&ic,  bending  o'er  his  tides ; 

Drinks  the  new  tints,  the  fweets  unknown  inhales, 

And  calls  the  fons  of  fcience  to  his  vales. 

In  one  bright  point  admiring  Nature  eyes  605 

The  fruits  and  foliage  of  difcordant  ikies, 

Twines  the  gay  floret  with  the  fragrant  bough, 

And  bends  the  wreath  round  GEORGE'S  royal  brow, 

— Sometimes  retiring  from  the  public  weal, 

One  tranquil  hour  the  Royal  Partners  fleal;  6lO 

Through  glades  exotic  pafs  with  ftep  fublime, 

Or  mark  the  growths  of  Britain's  happier  clime; 

With  beauty  bloflbm'd,  and  with  virtue  blaz'd, 

Mark  the  fair  Scions,  that  themfelves  have  rais'd; 

Sweet  blooms  the  Rofe,  the  towering  Oak  expands,          615 

The  Grace  and  Guard  of  Britain's  golden  lands. 

XV.  "  Sylphs  !  who,  round  earth  on  purple  pinions  borne, 
Attend  the  radiant  chariot  of  the  morn ; 
Lead  the  gay  hours  along  the  ethereal  hight, 
And  on  each  dun  meridian  ihower  the  light;  620 

Sylphs  !  who  from  realms  of  equatorial  day 
To  climes,  that  fhudder  in  the  polar  ray, 
From  zone  to  zone  purfue  on  {Lifting  wing, 
The  bright  perennial  journey  of  the  fpring; 
Bring  my  rich  Balms  from  Mecca's  hallow'd  glade's,          625 
Sweet  flowers,  that  glitter  in  Arabia's  /hades; 
Fruits,  whofe  fair  forms  in  bright  fucceflion  glow, 
Gilding  the  banks  of  Arno,  or  of  Po ; 
Each  leaf,  whofe  fragrant  fleam  with  ruby  lip 
Gay  China's  nymphs  from  pi&ur'd  vafes  fip ;  630 


CANTO  IV.     ECONOMY  OF  VEGETATION.  ii> 

Each  fpicy  rind,  which  fultry  India  boafts,  ^r' 

Scenting  the  night-air  round  her  breezy  coafts; 

Roots,  whofe  bold  ftems  in  bleak  Siberia  blow, 

And  gem  with  many  a  tint  the  eternal  fnow ; 

Barks,  whofe  broad  umbrage  high  in  ether  waves  635 

O'er  Andes'  deeps,  and  hides  his  golden  caves ; 

• — And,  where  yon  oak  extends  his  dufky  {hoots 

Wide  o'er  the  rill,  that  bubbles  from  his  roots ; 

Beneath  whofe  arms,  protected  from  the  ftorm, 

A  turf-built  altar  rears  its  ruftic  form ;  640 

Sylphs  !  with  religious  hands  frefh  garlands  twine, 

And  deck  with  lavifti  pomp  HYGEIA'S  fhrine. 

"  Call  with  loud  voice  the  Sifterhood,  that  dwell 
On  floating  cloud,  wide  wave,  or  bubbling  well ; 
Stamp  with  charm*d  foot,  convoke  the  alarmed  Gnomes     645 
From  golden  beds,  and  adamantine  domes ; 
Each  from  her  fphere  with  beckoning  arm  invite, 
Curled  with  red  flame,  the  Veftal  Forms  of  light; 
Clofe  all  your  fpotted  wings,  in  lucid  ranks 
Prefs  with  your  bending  knees  the  crouded  banks,  650 

Crofs  your  meek  arms,  incline  your  wreathed  brows, 
And  win  the  Goddefs  with  unwearied  vows. 

"Oh,  wave,  HYGEIA!  o'er  BRITANNIA'S  throne, 
Thy  ferpent-wand,  and  mark  it  for  thy  own ; 
Lead  round  her  breezy  coafts  thy  guardian  trains,  655 

Her  nodding  forefts,  and  her  waving  plains ; 
Shed  o'er  her  peopled  realms  thy  beamy  fmile, 
And  with  thy  airy  temple  crown  her  ifle !" 

The  Goddefs  ceafed, — and,  calling  from  afar 
The  wandering  Zephyrs,  joins  them  to  her  car;  660 

Mounts  with  light  bound,  and,  graceful,  as  fhe  bends, 
Whirls  the  long  lafli,  the  flexile  rein  extends ; 
On  whifpering  wheels  the  lilver  axle  flides, 
Climbs  into  air,  and  cleaves  the  cryftal  tides  j 


BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


PART  1, 
665 


Burfl  from  its  pearly  chains,  her  amber  hair 
Streams  o'er  her  ivory  {boulders,  buoy'd  in  air; 
Swells  her  white  veil,  with  ruby  clafp  confined 
Round  her  fair  brow,  and  undulates  behind ; 
The  leflening  courfers  rife  in  fpiral  rings, 
'Pierce   the   flow-failing  clouds,   and  ftretch  their   fhadowj 
wings.  670 


THE 

BOTANIC  GARDEN. 

CONTENTS  OF  THE  NOTES. 


CANTO  I. 


iXOi 


)SICRUCIAN  machinery 

All  bodies  are  immerfed  in  the 
matter  of  heat.  Particles  of  bo- 
dies dq  not  touch  each  other 

Gradual  progrels  of  the  formation 
of  the  earth,  and  of  plants  and 
animals.  Monftrous  births 

Fixed  flars  approach  towards  each 
other, they  were  projected  from 
chaos  by  explofion,  and  the  pla- 
nets projected  from  them 

An  atmofphere  of  inflammable  air 
above  the  common- atmofphere 
principally  about  the  poles 

Twilight  fifty  miles  high.  Wants 
further  obfervations 

Immediate  caufe  of  volcanos  from 
fleam  and  other  vapours.  They 
prevent  greater  earthquakes 

Conductors  of  heat.  Cold  on  the 
tops  of  mountains 

Phoiphorefcent  light  in  the  even- 
ing from  all  bodies 

Phoiphoric  light  from  calcined 
fhells.  Bolognian  fbone.  Expe- 
riments of  Beccari  and  Wilfon 

Ignis  fatiius  doubtful 

Electric  Eel.  Its  electric  organs. 
Compared  to  the  electric  Ley- 
den  phial 

Difcovery  of  fire.  Tools  of  fteel. 
Forefts  fubdued.  Quantity  of 
food  increafed  by  cookery 

Meclufa  originally  an  hierogly- 
phic of  divine  wifdom 

Caufe  of  explofions  from  com- 
bined heat.  Heat  given  out 

PART  1. 


from  air  in  refpiration.     Oxy- 
gene  lofes  lefs  heat  when  con- 
verted into  nitrous  acid  than  in 
97      any  other  of  its  combinations     226 
Sparks  from  the  collifion  of  flints 
are  electric.  From  the  collifion 
IOI      of  flint  and  fteel  are  from  the 

combuftion  of  the  fteel  229 

Gun-powder  defcribed  by  Bacon. 
Its  power.     Should  be  lighted 
105      in  the  centre.    A  new  kind  of 

it.  Levels  the  weak  and  ftrong   342 
Steam-engine  invented  by  Save- 
123      ry.     Improved  by  Newcomen. 

Perfected  by  Watt  and  Boulton  254 
1 26  Divine  benevolence.   The  parts  of 

nature  not  of  equal  excellence  278 
VIr.  Boulton's  fteam-engine  for 
the  purpofe  of  coining,  would 
fave  many  lives  from  the  exe- 
cutioner 281 
Labours  of  Hercules  of  great  an- 
tiquity. Pillars  of  Hercules. 
Surface  of  the  Mediterranean 
lower  than  the  Atlantic  Aby- 
la  and  Calpe.  Flood  of  Deu- 
calion 297 


15' 


176 


177 


182 
180 


21  r 


Accumulation   of  electricity  not 

from  friction  335 

Mr.Bennet'sfenfible  electrometer  345 
Halo  of  faints  is  pictorial  language  358 
We  have  a  fenfe  adapted  to  per- 
ceive heat  but  not  electricity     365 
Paralytic  limbs  move  by  electric 

influence  367 

Death  of   Profefibr  Richman  by 
electricity  573 

s 


BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


PART  1 


Lightning  drawn  from  the  clouds. 
How  to  be  fafe  in  thunder- 
ftorms  383 

Animal  heat  from  air  and  refpira- 
tion.  Perpetual  necefiity  of 
refpiration.  Spirit  of  anima- 
tion perpetually  renewed  401 

Cupid  rifes  from  the  egg  of  night. 
Mrs.  Cofway's  painting  of  this 
fubjea  413 

Weftern  winds.  Their  origin. 
Warmer  than  fouth  winds. 
Produce  a  thaw.  430 

Water  expands  in  freezing.  De- 
ftroys  fucculent  plants,  not  re- 
fmous  ones.  Trees  in  valleys 
more  liable  to  injury.  Fig-trees 
bent  to  the  ground  in  winter  439 

Buds  and  bulbs  are  the  winter 
cradle  of  the  plant.  Defended 
from  froft  and  from  infects. 
Tulip  produces  one  flower-bulb 
and  feveral  leaf-bulbs,  and  pe- 
rifhes  460 

Matter  of  heat  if  different  from 
light.  Vegetables  blanched  by 
exclufion  of  light.  Turn  the 
upper  furface  of  their  leaves  to 
the  light.  Water  decompofed 


as  it  efcapes  from  their  pores. 
Hence  vegetables  purify  air  in 
the  day  time  only  462 

Electricity  forwards  the  growth 
of  plants.   Silk-worms  electriz- 
ed fpin  fdoner.    Water  decom-     , 
pofed   in    vegetables,   and  by 
electricity  463 

Sympathetic  inks  which  appear 
by  heat,  and  difappear  in  the 
cold.  Made  from  cobalt  487 

Star  in  Calliope's"  chair  515 

Tce-iflands  100  fathoms  deep. 
Sea-ice  more  difficult  of  folu- 
tion.  Ice  evaporates,  produc- 
ing great  cold.  Ice-iflands  in- 
creafe.  Should  be  navigated 
into  fouthern  climates.  Some 
ice-ifland  have  floated  fouth- 
wards  60  miles  long.  Steam 
attendingthemin  warm  climates  529 
Monfoon  cools  the  fand  of  Abyflinia  547 
Afcending  vapours  are  electrized 
plus,  as  appears  from  an  expe- 
riment of  Mr.  Bennet.  Elec- 
tricity fupports  vapour  in  clouds.  ^ 
Thunder-fhowers  from  combi- 
nation of  inflammable  and  vi- 
tal air  $53 


CANTO  II. 


Solar  Volcanos  analogous  to  ter- 
reftrial  and  lunar  ones.  Spots 
of  the  fun  are  excavations  14 

Spherical  form  of  the  earth.  O- 
cean  from  condenfed  vapour. 
Character  of  Mr.  Whitehurfl  1 7 

Granite  the  oldeft  part  of  the 
earth.  Then  limeilone.  And 
laftly,  clay,  iron,  coal,  fand- 
fhone.  Three  great  concentric 
divifions  of  the  globe.  35 

Formation  of  primeval  iflands  be- 
fore the  production  of  the  moon. 
Paradhc.  The  Golden  Age. 
Rain-bow.  Water  of  the  fea  ori- 
ginally frefli  36 

Venus  rifing  from  the  fea,  an  hie- 
roglyphic emblem  of  the  pro- 
duction of  the  earth  beneath 
the  ocean  47 


Firft  great  vblcanos  in  the  central 
parts  of  the  earth.  From  fleam, 
inflammable  gas,  and  vital  air. 
Prefent  volcanos  like  mole-hills  68 

Moon  lias  little  or  no  atmofphere. 
Its  ocean  is  frozen.  Is  not  yet 
inhabited,  but  may  be  in  time  82* 

Earth's  axis  changed  by  the  afcent 
of  the  moon.  Its  diurnal  motion 
retarded.  One  great  tide  84 

Limeftone  produced  from  fhells. 
Spars  with  double  refractions. 
Marble.  Chalk.  93 

Ancient  ftatues  of  Hercules.  An- 
tinous.  Apollo.  Venus.  De- 
figns  of  Roubiliac.  Monument 
of  General  Wade  lol 

Statues  of  Mrs.  Darner  113 

Moraffes  reft  on  limeilone.  Of 
immenfe  extent  116 


PART  I. 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  NOTES. 


Salts  from  animal  and  vegetable 
bodies  decompofe  each  other, 
except  marine  fait.  Salt-mines 
in  Poland.  Timber  does  not  de- 
cayinthem.  Rock-falt  produc- 
ed by  evaporation  from  fea-wa- 
ter.  Foffil  fhells  in  falt-mines. 
Salt  in  hollow  pyramids.  In 
cubes.  Sea-water  contains  a- 
bout  one  thirtieth  of  fait  119 

Nitre,  native  in  Bengal  and  Italy. 
Nitrous  gas  combined  wijh  vi- 
tal air  produces  red  clouds,  and 
the  two  airs  occupy  lefs  fpace 
than  one  of  them  before,  and 
give  out  heat.  Oxygene  and 
azote  produce  nitrous  acid.  143 

Iron  from  decompofed  vegetables. 
Chalybeat  fprings.  Fern-leaves 
in  nodules  of  iron.  Concentric 
fpheres  of  iron  nodules  owing 
to  polarity,  like  iron-filings  ar- 
ranged by  a  magnet.  Great 
ftrata  of  the  earth  owing  to 
their  polarity  183 

Hardnefs  of  iteel  fpr  tools.  Gave 
fuperiority  to  the  European  na-? 
tions.  Welding  of  fteel.  Its 
magnetifm.  Ufes  of  gold  192 

Artificial  magnets  improved  by 
Savery  and  Dr.  Knight,  per- 
fected by  Mr.  Michel.  How 
produced.  Polarity  owing  to 
the  earth's  rotatory  motion. 
The  electric  fluid,  and  the  mat- 
ter of  heat,  and  magnetifm, 
gravitate  on  each  other.  Mag- 
netifm being  the  lighteft,  is 
found  neareft  the  axis  of  the 
motion.  Electricity  produces 
northern  lights  by  its  centrjfu- 
gal  motion  193 

Acids  from  vegetable  recrements. 
Flint  has  its  acid  from  the  new 
world.  Its  bafe  in  part  from 
the  old  world,  and  in  part 
from  the  new.  Precious  ftones  215 

Diamond.  Its  great  refraction  of 
light.  Its  volatility  by  heat.  If 
an  inflammable  body  228 

Fires  of  the  new  world  from  fer- 
mestation.  Whence  fulphur 


and  bifumenby  fublimation,the 
clay,  coal,  and  flint,  remaining  275 

Colours  not  diftinguifhable  in  the 
enamel-kiln,  till  a  bit  of  dry 
wood  is  introduced  283 

Etrurian  pottery  prior  to  the 
foundation  of  Rome.  Excelled 
in  fine  forms,  and  in  a  non-vi- 
treous encauftic  painting,  which 
was  loft  till  reftored  by  Mr. 
Wedgwood.  Still  influences 
the  tafte  of  the  inhabitants  291 

Mr.  Wedgwood's  cameo  of  a  flave 
in  chains,  and  of  Hope  315 

Baflb-relievos  of  two  or  more  co- 
lours not  made  by  the  ancients. 
Invented  by  Mr.  Wedgwood  342 

Petroleum  and  naptha  have  been 
fublimed.  Whence  jet  and  am- 
ber. They  abforb  air.  Attract 
ftraws  when  rubbed.  Electri- 
city from  electron,  the  Greek 
name  for  amber  35-3 

plefts  in  gfanite  rocks  in  which 
metals  are  found.  Iron  and, 
manganefe  found  in  all  ve,- 
getables.  Manganefe  in  lime- 
ftone.  W  arm  fprings  from  fteam 
rifing  up  the  clefts  of  granite 
and  Kmeftone.  Ponderous  earth 
in  limeftone  clefts  and  in  gra- 
nite. Copper,  lead,  iron,  front 
defcending  materials.  High 
mountains  of  granite  contain 
no  ores  near  their  fummits. 
Tranfmutation  of.  metals.  Of 
lead  into  calamy.  Into  filver.  398 

Armies  of  Cambyfes  deftroyed 
by  famine,  and  by  fand-ftorms  435 

Whirling  turrets  of  fand  defcrib- 
ed  and  explained  478 

Granite  (hews  iron  as  it  decom- 
pofes.  Marble  decompofes. 
Immenfe  quantity  of  charcoal 
exifts  in  limeftone.  Volcanic 
flags  decompofe,  &  become  clay  523 

Mill-ftones  raifed  by  wooden  pegs  5  24 

Hannibal  made  a  paflage  by  fire 
over  the  Alps  534 

Pafled  tenfe  of  many  words  two- 
fold, as  driven  or  drove,  fpoken 
or  fpokc.  A  poetic  licence,  609 


13* 


BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


PART  I. 


CANTO  III. 


Clouds  confift  of  aqueous  fpheres, 
which  do  not  eafily  unite  like 
globules  of  quick-filver,  as  may 
be  feen  in  riding  through 
water.  Owing  to  eledricity. 
Snow.  Hailftones  rounded  by 
attrition  and  diflblution  of 
their  angles.  Not  from  fro- 
zen drops  of  water 

Dew  on  points  and  edges  of  grafs, 
or  hangs  over  cabbage-leaves, 
needle  floats  on  water 

Mifts  over  rivers  and  on  moun- 
tains. Halo  round  the  moon. 
Shadow  of  a  church-fteeple 
upon  a  mift.  Dry  mift,  or 
want  of  tranfparency  of  the 
air,  a  fign  of  fair  weather 

Tides  on  both  fides  of  the  earth. 
Moon's  tides  fliould  be  much 
greater  than  the  earth's  tides. 
The  ocean  of  the  moon  is  frozen 

Spiral  form  of  ihells  faves  calca- 
reous matter.  Serves  them  as 
an  organ  of  hearing.  Cal- 
careous matter  produced  from 
inflamed  membranes.  Colours 
of  ihells,  Labradore-ftone  from 
mother-pearl.  Foiiil  ihells  not 
now  found  recent 

Sea-infeds  like  flowers.     A&inia 

Production  of  pearls,  not  a  difeafe 
of  the  fiih.  Crab's  eyes.  Re- 
fervoirs  of  pearly  matter 

Rocks  of  coral  in  the  fouth-fea. 
Coralloid  limeftone  at  Linfcl, 
and  Coalbrook  Dale 

Rocks  thrown  from  mountains, 
ice  from  glaciers,  and  portions 
of  earth,  or  moraffes,  remov- 
ed by  columns  of  water.  Earth- 
motion  in  Shropihire.  Water 
of  wells  rifmg  above  the  level 
of  the  ground.  St.  Alkmond's 
well  near  Derby  might  be  raif- 
ed  many  yards,  fo  as  to  ferve 
the  town.  Well  at  Sheernefs, 
and  at  Hartford  in  Connecticut 

Monfoons  attended  with  rain. 
Overflowing  of  the  Nile.  Vor- 
tex of  afcending  air  Riling 
of  the  Dogflar  announces  the 
floods  of  the  Nile.  Anubis 
hung  out  upon  their  temples 


6  1 


90 


116 


Situation  exempt  from  rain.  At 
the  line  in  Lower  Egypt.  On 
the  coaft  of  Peru  138 

iefar,  a  boiling  fountain  in  Ice- 
landi  Water  with  great  de- 
grees of  heat  difiblves  filiceous 
matter.  Earthquake  from  iream  150 

Warm  fprings  not  from  decom- 
pofed  pyrites.  From  fteam, 
rifmg  up  fiffures  from  great 
depths  i 66 

Buxton  bath  pofleffes  82  degrees 
of  heat.  Ts  improperly  called 
a  warm  bath.  A  chill  at  im- 
merfion,  and  then  a  fenfation 
of  warmth,  like  the  eye  in  an 
obfcure  room  owing  to  increaf- 
ed  fenfibility  of  the  ikin  184 

Water  compounded  of  pure  air 
and  inflammable  air  with  as 
much  matter  of  heat  as  preferves 
it  fluid.  Perpetually  decompof- 
ed  by  vegetables  in  the  fun's 
light,  and  recompofed  in  the 
atmofphere  204 

Mythological  interpretation  of 
Jupiter  and  Juno  deiigned  as  an 
emblem  of  the  compofition  of 
water  from  two  airs  260 

Death  of  Mrs.  French  308 

Tomb  of  Mr.  Brindley  341 

Invention  of  the  pump.  The 
pifton  lifts  the  atmofphere  a- 
bove  it.  The  fur  rounding  at- 
mofphere prefles  up  the  water 
into  the  vacuum.  Manner  in 
which  a  child  fucks  366 

Air-cell  in  engines  for  extinguiih- 
ing  fire.  Water  difperfed  by 
the  explofion  of  gun-powder. 
Houfes  preferved  from  fire  by 
earth  on  the  floors,  by  a  fecond 
cieling  of  iron-plates  or  coarfe 
mortar.  Wood  impregnated 
with  alabafter  or  flint  406 

Mufcular  actions  and  fenfations 
of  plants  460 

River  Achelous.  Horn  of  Plenty    495 

Flooding  lands  defends  them  from 
vernal  frofts.  Some  fprings 
depoiit  calcareous  earth.  Some 
contain  azotic  gas,  which 
contributes  to  produce  nitre. 
SnoVf  water  lefs  ferviceable  540 


PART  I. 


CONTENTS  O?  THE  NOTES. 


CANTO  IV. 


Cacalia  produces  much  honey, 
that  a  part  may  be  taken  by 
infers  without  injury  2 

Analyfis  of  common  air.  Source 
of  azote.  Of  oxygene.  Water 
decompofed  by  vegetable  pores 
and  the  fun's  light.  Blood 
gives  out  phlogifton  and  re- 
ceives vital  air.  Acquires  heat 
and  the  vivifying  principle  34 

Cupid  and  Pfyche  48 

Simoom,  a  peftilential  wind.  De- 
fcribcd.  Owing  to  volcanic 
electricity.  Not  a  whirlwind  6,5 

Contagion  either  animal  or  ve- 
getable 82 

Thyrfis  efcapes  the  Plague  91 

Barometer  and  air-pumps.  Dew 
on  exhaufting  the  receiver, 
though  the  hygrometer  points 
to  drynefs.  Rare  air  will  dif- 
iblve,  or  acquire  more  heat, 
and  more  moifture,  and  more 
electricity  128 

Sound  propagated  beft  by  denfc 
bodies,  as  wood,  and  water,  and 
earth.  Fifhinfpiralfhellsallear  176 

Difcoveries  of  Dr.  Prieftley. 
Green  vegetable  matter.  Pure 
air  contained  in  the  calces  of 
metals,  as  minium,  manganefe, 
calamy,  ochre  178 

Fable  of  Proferpine,  an  ancient 
chemical  emblem  190 

Diving  balloonsfuppliedwithpure 
air  from  minium.  Account  of 
one  by  Mr.  Boyle  207 

Mr.  Day.    Mr.  Spalding  229 

Capt.  Pierce  and  his  daughters       2 

Peftilential  winds  of  volcanic  ori- 
gin. Jordan  flows  through  a 
country  of  volcanos  306 

Change  of  wind  owing  to  fmall 
caufes.  If  the  wind  could  be 
governed,  the  produces  of  the 
earth  would  be  doubled,  and 
its  number  of  inhabitants  in- 
creafed  320 


Mr.  Kirwan's  treatife  on  tem- 
perature of  climates  354 

>eeds  of  plants.  Spawn  of  fifh. 
Nutriment  lodged  in  feeds. 
Their  prefervation  in  their  feed- 
veffels*  367 

Fixed  liars  approach  each  other     381 

Fable  of  the  Phoenix  389 

Plants  vifible  within  bulbs,  and 
buds,  and  feeds  395 

Great  egg  of  night  418 

Seeds  ihoot  into  the  ground. 
Pith.  Seed-lobes.  Starch  con- 
verted into  fugar.  Like  ani- 
mal chyle  423 

Light  occafions  the  aclions  of  ve- 
getable mufcles.  Keeps  them 
awake  434 

Vegetable  love  in  Parnaffia,  Ni- 
gella.  Vegetable  adultery  in 
Collinfonia  47$ 

Strong  vegetable  fhoots  and  roots 
bound  with  wire,  in  part  de- 
barked, whence  leaf-buds  con- 
verted into  flower-buds.  The- 
ory of  this  curious  fact:  479 

Branches  bent  to  the  horizon  bear 
more  fruit  48  z 

Ingrafting  of  a  fpotted  paiTlon- 
flower  produced  fpots  upon  the 
ftock.  Apple  foft  on  one  fide 
and  hard  on  the  other  513 

Cyprepedium  affumes  the  form  of 
a  large  fpider  to  affright  the 
humming-bird.  Fly-ophris. 
Willow-wren  fucks  the  honey 
of  the  crown-imperial  535 

Difeafes  of  plants  four  kinds.  PIo- 
ney-dew  541 

Ergot,  a  difeafe  of  rye  543 

Glafs  unannealed.  Its  cracks  ow- 
ing to  elafticity.  One  kind  of 
lead-ore  cracks  into  pieces. 
Prince  Rupert's  drops.  Elaftic 
balls  549 

Sleep  of  plants.  Their  irritability, 
fenfibility,  and  voluntary  mo- 
tions 568 


THE 

BOTANIC  GARDEN. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 
NOTE  I.— METEORS* 

"     Ethereal  Powers  !  you  chafe  the  Jhootingjlarst 

Or  yoke  the  willed  lightnings  to  your  cars.  CANTO  I.  1.  IIJ* 

nr 

JL  HERE  feem  to  be  three  concentric  ftrata  of  our  incumbent  atmofphere; 
in  which,  or  between  them,  are  produced  four  kinds  of  meteors;  lightning, 
Ihooting  ftars,  fire-balls,  and  northern  lights.  Firft,  the  lower  region  of 
air,  or  that  which  is  denfe  enough  to  refift,  by  the  adhefion  of  its  particles* 
the  defcent  of  condenfed  vapour,  or  clouds,  which  may  extend  from  one  to 
three  or  four  miles  high.  In  this  region  the  common  lightning  is  produced 
from  the  accumulation  or  defedt  of  electric  matter  in  thofe  floating  fields  of 
vapour,  either  in  refpect  to  each  other,  or  in  refpe&  to  the  earth  beneath 
them,  or  the  diflolved  vapour  above  them,  which  is  conftantly  varying  both 
with  the  change  of  the  form  of  the  clouds,  which  thus  evolve  a  greater  or 
lefs  furface ;  and  alfo  with  their  ever-changing  degree  of  condenfation.  As 
the  lightning  is  thus  produced  in  denfe  air,  it  proceeds  but  a  fliort  courfe, 
on  account  of  the  greater  refiftance  which  it  encounters,  is  attended  with  a 
loud  explofion,  and  appears  with  a  red  light. 

a.  The  fecond  region  of  the  atmofphere  I  fuppofe  to  be  that  which  hat 
too  little  tenacity  to  fupport  condenfed  vapour,  or  clouds;  but  which  yet 
contains  invifible  Vapour,  or  waiter  in  aerial  folution.  This  aerial  folution 
of  water  differs  from  that  diflolved  in  the  matter  of  heat,  as  it  is  fupported 
by  its  adhefion  to  the  particles  of  air,  and  is  not  precipitated  by  cold.  In 
this  ftratum  it  feems  probable  that  the  meteors  called  fhooting  ftars  are  pro- 
duced; and  that  they  confift  of  electric  fparks,  or  lightning,  pafling  from 
one  region  to  another  of  thefe  invifible  fields  of  aero-aqueous  folution.  The 
height  of  thefe  ftiooting  ftars  has  not  yet  been  afcertained  by  fufficient  ob- 
Fervation.  Dr.  Blagden  thinks  their  fituation  is  lower  down  in  the  atmof- 
phere than  that  of  fire-balls,  which  he  conje&ures  from  their  fwift  apparent 
motion,  and  afcribes  their  fmallnefs  to  the  more  minute  divifion  of  the  elec- 
tric matter  of  which  they  are  fuppofed  to  confift,  owing  to  the  greater  re- 
fiftance of  the  denfer  medium  through  which  they  pafs,  than  that  in  which 
the  fire-balls  exift.  Mr.  Brydone  obferved  that  the  fliooting  ftars  appeared 


t}6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!, 

to  him  to  be  as  high  in  the  atmofphere,  when  he  was  near  the  fummit  of 
Mount  Etna,  as  they  do  when  obferved  from  the  plain.  Phil.  TranL 
vol.  LXIII. 

As  the  ftratum  of  air  in  which  fhooting  ftars  are  fuppofed  to  exift,  is 
much  rarer  than  that  in  which  lightning  refides,  and  yet  much  denier  than 
that  in  which  fire-balls  are  produced,  they  will  be  attracted  at  a  greater 
diftance  than  the  former,  and  at  a  lefs  than  the  latter.  From  this  rarity  of 
the  air,  fo  fmall  a  found  will  be  produced  by  their  explofion,  as  not  to  reach 
the  lower  parts  of  the  atmofphere;  their  quantity  of  light,  from  their  greater 
diftance,  being  fmall,  is  never  feen  through  denfe  air  at  all,  and  thence  does 
not  appear  red,  like  lightning  or  fire-balls.  There  are  no  apparent  clouds 
to  emit  or  to  attract  them,  becaufe  the  conftituent  parts  of  thcfe  aero-aque- 
ous regions  may  poffefs  an  abundance  or  deficiency  of  electric  matter,  and 
yet  be  in  perfect  reciprocal  folution.  And,  laftly,  their  apparent  train  of 
light  is  probably  owing  only  to  a  continuance  of  their  imprefiion  on  the  eye; 
as  when  a  fire  ftick  is  whirled  in  the  dark  it  gives  the  appearance  of  a 
complete  circle  of  fire :  for  thefe  white  trains  of  fhooting  ftars  quickly  va- 
niih,  and  do  not  feem  to  fet  any  thing  on  fire  in  their  paffage,  as  feems  to 
happen  in  the  tranfit  of  fire-balls. 

3.  The  fecond  region  or  ftratum  of  air  terminates,  I  fuppofe,  where  the 
twilight  ceafes  to  be  refracted,  that  is,  where  the  air  is  3000  times  rarer 
than  at  the  furface  of  the  earth;  and  where  it  feems  probable  that  the  com- 
mon air  ends,  and  is  furrounded  by  an  atmofphere  of  inflammable  gas  ten- 
fold rarer  than  itfelf.  In  this  region  I  believe  fire-balls  fometimes  to  pafs, 
and  at  other  times  the  northern  lights  to  exift.  One  of  thefe  fire-balls,  or 
draco  volans,  was  obferved  by  Dr.  Pringle,  and  many  others,  on  Nov.  26, 1758, 
which  was  afterwards  eftimated  to  have  been  a  mile  and  a  half  in  circum- 
ference, to  have  been  about  one  hundred  miles  high,  and  to  have  moved 
towards  the  north  with  a  velocity  of  near  thirty  miles  in  a  fecond  of  time. 
This  meteor  had  a  real  tail  many  miles  long,  which  threw  off  fparks  in  its 
courfe,  and  the  whole  exploded,  with  a  found  like  diftant  thunder.  Phil. 
Tranf.  vol.  LI. 

Dr.  Blagden  has  related  the  hiftory  of  another  large  meteor,  or  fire-ball, 
which  was  feen  the  1 8th  of  Auguft,  1783,  with  many  ingenious  obferva- 
tions  and  conjectures.  This  was  eftimated^to  be  between  60  and  70  miles 
high,  and  to  travel  looo  miles  at  the  rate  of  about  twenty  miles  in  a  fecond. 
This  fire-ball  had  likewife  a  real  train  of  light  left  behind  it  in  its  paffage, 
which  varied  in  colour,  and,  in  fome  part  of  its  courfe,  gave  cff  fparks  or 
cxplonons  where  it  had  been  brighteft  ;  and  a  duiky  red  flreak  remained 
vifible  perhaps  a  minute.  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  LXX1V. 

Thefe  fire-balls  differ  from  lightning,  and  from  fhooting  ftars,  in  many  re- 
markable circumftances;  as  their  very  great  bulk,  being  a  mile  and  a  half 
in  diameter;  their  travelling  looo  miles  nearly  horizontally;  their  throwing 
off  fparks  in  their  paffage ;  and  changing  colours  from  bright  blue  to  dufky 
red;  and  leaving  a  train  of  fire  behind  them,  continuing  about  a  minute, 
They  differ  from  the  northern  lights  in  not  being  diffufed,  but  pa  fling  from 
one  point  of  the  heavens  to  another  in  a  defined  line ;  and  this  in  a  region 


&OTEL  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  137 

above  the  crepufcular  atmofphere,  where  the  air  is  3000  times  rarer  than  at 
the  furfacc  of  the  earth.  There  has  not  yet  been  even  a  conjecture  which 
can  account  for  thefe  appearances! — One  I  fhall  therefore  hazard;  which,  if 
it  does  not  inform,  may  amufe  the  reader. 

In  the  note  on  1.  123,  it  was  {hewn  that  there  is  probably  a  fupernatant 
ftratum  of  inflammable  gas  or  hydrogene,  over  the  common  atmofphere; 
and  whofe  denfity  at  the  furface  where  they  meet,  muft  be  at  leafl  ten  times 
lefs  than  that  upon  which  it  fwims;  like  chemical  ether  floating  upon  water, 
and  perhaps  without  any  real  contact.  I.  In  this  region,  where  the  aerial 
atmofphere  terminates,  and  the  inflammable  one  begins,  the  quantity  of 
tenacity  or  refiftance  muft  be  almoft  inconceivable ;  in  which  a  ball  of  elec- 
tricity might  pafs  1000  miles  with  greater  eafe  than  through  a  thoufandth 
part  of  an  inch  of  glafs.  2.  Such  a  ball  of  electricity  pafling  between  in-> 
flammable  and  common  air,  would  fet  fire  to  them  in  a  line  as  it  pafied 
along;  which  would  differ  in  colour  according  to  the  greater  proportionate 
commixture  of  the  two  airs;  and  from  the  fame  caufe  there  might  occur 
greater  degrees  of  inflammation,  or  branches  of  fire,  in  fome  parts  of  its 
courfe. 

As  thefe  fire-balls  travel  in  a  defined  line,  it  is  pretty  evident  from  the 
known  laws  of  electricity,  that  they  muft  be  attracted ;  and  as  they  are  a  mile 
or  more  in  diameter,  they  muft  be  emitted  from  a  large  furface  of  electric 
matter;  becaufe  large  nobs  give  larger  fparks,  lefs  diffufed,  and  more 
brightly  luminous,  than  lefs  ones  or  points,  and  refift  more  forcibly  the 
emifiion  of  the  electric  matter.  What  is  there  in  nature  can  attract  them  at 
ib  great  a  diftance  as  1000  miles,  and  fo  forceibly  as  to  detach  an  electric 
fpark  of  a  mile  diameter  ?  Can  volcanos,  at  the  time  of  their  eruptions,  have 
this  effect,  as  they  are  generally  attended  with  lightning  ?  Future  obferva- 
tions  muft  difcover  thefe  fecret  operations  of  nature !  As  a  ftream  of  com- 
mon air  is  carried  along  with  the  paffage  of  electric  aura  from  one  body 
to  another,  it  is  eafy  to  conceive,  that  the  common  air  and  the  inflamma- 
ble air  between  which  the  fire-ball  is  fuppofed  to  pafs,  will  be  partially  in- 
termixed by  being  thus  agitated,  and  fo  far  as  it  becomes  intermixed  it  will 
take  fire,  and  produce  the  linear  flame  and  branching  fparks  above  delcribed. 
In  this  circumftanoe  of  their  being  attracted,  and  thence  pafling  in  a  defined 
line,  the  fire-balls  feem  to  differ  from  the  corufcations  of  the  aurora  bureau's, 
or  northern  lights,  which  probably  take  place  in  the  fame  region  of  the  at- 
mofphere ;  where  the  common  air  exifts  in  extreme  tenuity,  and  is  covered 
by  a  itill  rarer  fphere  of  inflammable  gas,  ten  times  lighter  than  itfelf. 

As  the  electric  ftreams,  which  conftitute  thefe  northern  lights,  feem  to  be 
repelled  or  radiated  from  an  accumulation  of  that  fluid  in  the  north,  and  not 
attracted  like  the  fire-balls;  this  accounts  for  the  diffufion  of  their  light,  as 
well  as  the  filence  of  their  paffage ;  while  their  variety  of  colours,  and  the 
permanency  of  them,  and  even  the  breadth  of  them  in  different  places,  may 
depend  on  their  fitting  on  fire  the  mixture  of  inflammable  and  common  air 
through  which  they  pafs;  asfeems  to  happen  in  the  tranfit  of  the  fire-balls. 

It  was  obferved  by  Dr.  Pricftley,  that  the  electric  {hock  taken  through  in- 
flammable air  was  red,  in  common  air  it  is  blueifh ;  to  thefe  circumftances 

PART  I.  T 


238  BOTANIC  GARDEN".  PART  t 

perhaps  fome  of  the  colours  of  the  northern  lights  may  bear  analogy ;  though 
the  denfity  of  the  medium  through  which  light  is  feen  muft  principally  vary 
its  colour,  as  is  well  explained  by  Mr.  Morgan.  Phil.  Tranf.  Vol.  LXXV. 
Hence  lightning  is  red  when  feen  through  a  dark  cloud,  or  near  the  horizon; 
becaufe  the  more  refrangible  rays  cannot  permeate  fo  denfe  a  medium.  But 
the  (hooting  ftars  confift  of  white  light,  as  they  are  generally  feen  on  clear 
nights,  and  nearly  verticial;  in  other  iituations  their  light  is  probably  too 
faint  to  come  to  us.  But  as  in  fome  remarkable  appearances  of  the  northern 
lights,  as  in  March,  1716,  all  the  prifmatic  colours  were  feen  quickly  to  fuc- 
ceed  each  other,  thefe  appear  to  have  been  owing  to  real  combuftion  ;  as  the 
denfity  of  the  interpofed  medium  could  not  be  fuppofed  to  change  fo  fre- 
quently ;  and  therefore  thefe  colours  muft  have  been  owing  to  different  de- 
grees of  heat,  according  to  Mr.  Morgan's  theory  of  combuftion.  In  Smith's 
Optics,  p.  69.  the  prifmatic  colours,  and  optical  deceptions  of  the  northern 
lights,  are  defcribed  by  Mr.  Cotes. 

The  Torricellian  vacuum,  if  perfectly  free  from  air,  is  faid,  by  Mr.  Mor- 
gan and  others,  to  be  a  perfect  non-conductor.  This  circumftance  there- 
fore would  preclude  the  electric  ftreams  from  rifing  above  the  atmofphere. 
But  as  Mr.  Morgan  did  not  try  to  pafs  an  electric  fhock  through  a  vacuum, 
and  as  air,  or  fornething  containing  air,  furrounding  the  tranfit  of  electricity, 
may  be  neceffary  to  the  production  of  light,  the  conclufion  may  perhaps  ftill 
be  dubious.  If,  however,  the  ftreams  of  the  northern  lights  were  fuppofed  to 
rife  above, our  atmofphere,  they  would  only  be  vifible  at  each  extremity  of 
their  courfe;  where  they  emerge  from,  or  are  again  immerged  into  the  at- 
mofphere ;  but  not  in  their  journey  through  the  vacuum;  for  the  abfence  of 
electric  light  in  a  vacuum  is  fufficiently  proved  by  the  common  experiment  of 
fhaking  a  barometer  in  the  dark;  the  electricity,  produced  by  the  friction  of 
the  mercury  in  the  glafs  at  its  top,  is  luminous  if  the  barometer  has  a  little 
air  in  it ;  but  there  is  no  light  if  the  vacuum  be  complete. 

The  aurora  borealis,  or  northern  dawn,  is  very  ingenioufly  accounted  for 
by  Dr.  Franklin,  on  principles  of  electricity.  He  premifes  the  following  elec- 
tric phenomena:  I.  That  all  new-fallen  fnow  has  much  pofitive  electricity 
Handing  on  its  furface.  2.  That  about  twelve  degrees  of  latitude  round  the 
poles  are  covered  with  a  cruft  of  eternal  ice,  which  is  impervious  to  the  elec- 
tric fluid.  3.  That  the  denfe  part  of  the  atmofphere  rifes  but  a  few  miles 
high;  and  that  in  the  rarer  parts  of  it  the  electric  fluid  will  pafs  to  almoft 
any  diftance. 

Hence  he  fuppofes  there  muft  be  a  great  accumulation  of  pofitive  electric 
matter  on  the  frefh-fallen  fnow  in  the  polar  regions;  which,  not  being  abk- 
to  pafs  through  the  cruft  of  ice  into  the  earth,  muft  rife  into  the  rare  air  of 
the  upper  parts  of  our  atmofphere,  which  will  die  leaft  refift  its  paflage;  and 
paffing  towards  the  equator,  defcend  again  into  the  denfer  atmofphere,  and 
thence  into  the  earth  in  filent  ftreams.  And  that  many  of  the  appearances 
attending  thefe  lights  are  optical  deceptions,  owing  to  the  fituation  of  the 
eye  that  beholds  them;  which  makes  all  afcending  parallel  lines  appear  to 
converge  to  a  point. 
The  idea,  above  explained  in  note  on  1. 123,  of  the  exiftence  of  a  fphere  of 


NOTE  II.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  139 

inflammable  gas  over  the  aerial  atmofphere,  would  much  favour  this  theory 
of  Dr.  Franklin;  becaufe  in  that  cafe  the  denfe  aerial  atmofphere  would  rife  a 
much  lefs  height  in  the  polar  regions,  diminifhing  almoft  to  nothing  at  the 
pole  itfelf ;  and  thus  give  an  caller  paflage  to  the  afcent  of  the  electric  fluid. 
And  from  the  great  difference  in  the  fpecific  gravity  of  the  two  airs,  and  the 
velocity  of  the  earth's  rotation,  there  muft  be  a  place  between  the  poles  and 
the  equator,  where  the  fuperior  atmofphere  of  inflammable  gas  would  termi- 
nate j  which  would  account  for  thefe  ftreams  of  the  aurora  borealis  not  appear- 
ing near  the  equator ;  add  to  this,  that  it  is  probable  the  electric  fluid  may  be 
heavier  than  the  magnetic  one ;  and  will  thence,  by  the  rotation  of  the  earth's 
furface,  afcend  over  the  magnetic  one  by  its  centrifugal  force;  and  may  thus 
be  induced  to  rife  through  the  thin  ftratum  of  aerial  atmofphere  over  the  poles. 
See  note  on  Canto  II.  1. 193.  I  fhall  have  occafion  again  to  mention  this  great 
accumulation  of  inflammable  air  over  the  poles ;  and  to  conjecture  that  thefc 
northern  lights  may  be  produced  by  the  union  of  inflammable  with  common 
air,  without  the  affiftance  of  the  electric  fpark  to  throw  them  into  combuftion. 
The  antiquity  of  the  appearance  of  northern  lights  has  been  doubted  j  as 
none  were  recorded  in  our  annals  fince  the  remarkable  one  on  Nov.  14,  1574, 
till  another  remarkable  one  on  March  6,  1716,  and  the  three  following1 
nights,  which  was  feen  at  the  fame  time  in  Ireland,  Ruflia,  and  Poland, 
extending  near  30  degrees  of  longitude,  and  from  about  the  joth  degree  of 
latitude  over  almoft  all  the  north  of  Europe,  There  is,  however,  reafon  to 
believe  them  of  remote  antiquity,  though  inaccurately  defcribed ;  thus  the  fol- 
lowing curious  paflage  from  the  book  of  Maccabees  (B.  II.  c,  v.)  is  fuch  a 
defcription  of  them,  as  might  probably  be  given  by  an  ignorant  and  alarmed 
people.  "  Through  all  the  city,  for  the  fpace  of  almoft  forty  days,  there 
were  feen  horfemen  running  in  the  air,  in  cloth  of  gold,  and  armed  with 
lances,  like  a  band  of  foldiers;  and  troops  of  horfemen  in  array  encountering 
and  running  one  againft  another,  with  making  of  fhields  and  multitude  of 
pikes,  and  drawing  of  fwords,  and  calling  of  darts,  and  glittering  of  golden 
ornaments  and  harnefs." 


NOTE  II.— PRIMARY  COLOURS. 

Cling  round  the  aerial  botv  ivitb  prifms  bright, 

And  f  leafed  unt-wijl  the  fevenfold  threads  of  light.  CANTO  I.  1.  1 1 7. 

THE  manner  in  which  the  rainbow  is  produced,  was,  in  ibme  meafure, 
xmderftood  before  Sir  Ifaac  Newton  had  difcovered  his  theory  of  colours. 
The  firft  perfon  who  exprefsly  mewed  the  rainbow  to  be  formed  by  the 
reflection  of  the  fun-beams  from  drops  of  falling  rain,  was  Antonio  de  Do- 
minis.  This  was  afterwards  more  fully  and  diftinctly  explained  by  DCS 
Cartes.  But  what  caufed  the  diverfity  of  its  colours  was  not  then  under- 
ftood ;  it  was  referved  for  the  immortal  Newton  to  difcover  that  the  rays  of 
light  confuted  of  feven  combined  colours  of  different  refrangibility,  which 


140  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

could  be  feparated  at  pleafure  by  a  wedge  of  glafs.  Pemberton's  View  of 
Newton. 

Sir  Ifaac  Newton  difcovered  that  the  prifmatic  fpectrum  was  compofed  of 
feven  colours,  in  the  following  proportions;  violet  80,  indigo  40,  blue  60, 
green  60,  yellow  48,  orange  27,  red  45.  If  all  thefe  colours  be  painted  on 
a  circular  card,  in  the  proportion  above  mentioned,  and  the  card  be  rapidly 
whirled  on  its  centre,  they  produce  in  the  eye  the  fenfatioft  of  white.  And 
any  one  of  thefe  colours  may  be  imitated  by  painting  a  cajd  with  the  two 
colours  which  are  contiguous  to  it,  in  the  fame  proportion*  as  in  the  fpec-* 
trum,  and  whirling  them  in  the  fame  manner. 

My  ingenious  friend,  Mr.  Galton,  of  Birmingham,  afcertained,  in  this 
manner,  by  a  fet  of  experiments,  the  following  propofitions ;  the  truth  of 
which  he  had  preconceived  from  the  above  data. 

I.  Any  colour  in  the  prifmatic  fpe<5lrum  may  be  imitated  by  a  mixture 
of  the  two  colours  contiguous  to  it. 

a.  If  any  three  fucceffive  colours  in  the  prifmatic  fpe&rum  are  mixed, 
they  compofe  only  the  fecond  or  middlemoft  colour. 

3.  If  any  four  fucceffive  colours  in  the  prifmatic  fpeclrum  be  mixed,  a 
tint  fimilar  to  a  mixture  of  the  fecond  and  third  colours  will  be  produced,  but 
not.  precifely  the  fame,  becaufe  they  are  not  in  the  fame  proportion. 

4.  If,  beginning  with  any  colour  in  the  circular  fpectrum,  you  take  of  the 
fecond  colour  a  quantity  equal  to  the  firft,  fecond,  and  third;  and  add  to 
that  the  fifth  colour,  equal  in  quantity  to  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  fixth;  and  with 
thefe  combine  the  feventh  colour  in  the  proportion  it  exifts  in  the  fpectrum, 
white  will  be  produced.     Becaufe  the  firft,  fecond,  and  third,  compofe  only 
the  fecond;  and  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  fixth,  compofe  only  the  fifth;  there- 
fore, if  the  feventh.  be  added,  the  fame  effect  is  produced  as  if  all  the  feven 
were  employed. 

5«  Beginning  with  any  colour  in  the  circular  fpectrum,  if  you  take  a  tint 
compofed  of  a  certain  proportion  of  the  fecond  and  third,  (equal  in  quantity 
to  the  firft,  fecond,  third,  and  fourth,)  and  add  to  this  the  fixth  colour,  equal 
in  quantity  to  the  fifth,  fixth,  and  feventh,  white  will  be  produced. 

From  thefe  curious  experiments  of  Mr.  Galton,  many  phenomena  in  the 
chemical  changes  of  colours  may  probably  become  better  underftood ;  efpe- 
cially  if,  as  I  fuppofe,  the  fame  theory  muft  apply  to  tranfmitted  colours,  as 
to  reflected  ones.  Thus  it  is  well  known,  that  if  the  glafs  of  manganefe, 
which  is  a  tint  probably  compofed  of  violet  and  indigo,  be  mixed  in  a  cer. 
tain  proportion  with  the  glafs  of  lead,  which  is  yellow,  that  the  mixture  be- 
comes tranfparent.  Now,  from  Mr.  Gallon's  experiments,  it  appears,  that  in 
reflected  colours  fuch  a  mixture  would  produce  white,  that  is,  the  fame  as 
if  all  the  colours  were  reflected.  And,  therefore,  in  tranfmitted  colours 
the  fame  circumftances  muft  produce  tranfparency,  that  is,  the  fame  as  if 
all  the  colours  were  tranfmitted.  For  the  particles  which  conftitute  the 
glafs  of  mangariefe  will  tranfmit  red,  violet,  indigo,  and  blue;  and  thofe  of 
the  glafs  of  lead  will  tranfmit  orange,  yellow,  and  green;  hence  all  the  pri- 
mary colours,  by  a  mixture  of  thefe  glaffes,  become  tranfmitted,  that  is,  the 
glafs  becomes  tranfparent. 


NOTE  III.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  141 

Mr.  Galton  has  further  obferved,  that  five  fuccefiive  prifmatic  colours 
may  be  combined  in  fuch  proportions  as  to  produce  but  one  colour,  a  cir- 
cumftance  which  might  be  of  confequence  in  the  art  of  painting.  For  if 
you  begin  at  any  part  of  the  circular  fpectrum  above  defcribed,  and  take 
the  firft,  fecond,  and  third  colours,  in  the  proportions  in  which  they  exift  in 
the  fpectrum ;  thefe  will  compofe  only  the  fecond  colour,  equal  in  quantity 
to  the  firft,  fecond,  and  third;  add  to  thefe  the  third,  fourth  and  fifth,  in 
the  proportion  they  exift  in  the  fpectrum,  and  thefe  will  produce  the 
fourth  colour,  equal  in  quantity  to  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth.  Confe- 
quently  this  is  precifely  the  fame  thing  as  mixing  the  fecond  and  fourth  co- 
lours only;  which  mixture  would  only  produce  the  third  colour.  There- 
fore, if  you  combine  the  firft,  fecond,  fourth  and  fifth,  in  the  proportions 
an  which  they  exift  in  the  fpectrum,  with  double  the  quantity  of  the  third 
colour,  this  third  colour  will  be  produced.  It  is  probable  that  many  of  the 
unexpected  changes  in  mixing  colours  on  a  painter's  pallet;  as  well  as  in 
more  fluid  chemical  mixtures,  may  depend  on  thefe  principles  rather  than 
on  a  new  arrangement  or  combination  of  their  minute  particles. 

Mr.  Galton  further  obferves,  that  white  may  univerfally  be  produced  by 
the  combination  of  one  prifmatic  colour,  and  a  tint  intermediate  to  two 
others.  Which  tint  may  be  diftinguifhcd  by  a  name  compounded  of  the 
two  colours  to  which  it  is  intermediate.  Thus  white  is  produced  by  a  mix- 
ture of  red  with  blue-green.  Of  orange  with  indigo-blue.  Of  yellow  with 
violet-indigo.  Of  green  with  red-violet.  Of  blue  with  orange-red.  Of 
indigo  with  yellow-orange.  Of  violet  with  green-yellow.  Which,  he  fur- 
ther remarks,  exactly  coincides  with  the  theory  and  facts  mentioned  by  Dr. 
Robert  Darwin,  of  Shrewfbury,  in  his  account  of  ocular  fpectra ;  who  has 
ihewn,  that  when  one  of  thefe  contrafted  colours  has  been  long  viewed,  a 
fpectrum,  or  appearance  of  the  other,  becomes  vifible  in  the  fatigued  eye, 
Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  LXXVI.  for  the  year  1786. 

Thefe  experiments  of  Mr.  Galton  might  much  aflift  the  copper-plate  prin- 
ters of  callicoes  and  papers  in  colours,  as  three  colours,  or  more,  might  be 
produced  by  two  copper-plates.  Thus,  fuppofe  fome  yellow  figures  were 
put  on  by  the  firft  plate,  and  upon  fome  parts  of  thefe  yellow  figures,  and 
on  other  parts  of  the  ground,  blue  was  laid  on  by  another  copper-plate. 
The  three  colours  of  yellow,  blue,  and  green,  might  be  produced,  as  green 
leaves  with  yellow  and  blue  flowers. 


NOTE  III.— COLOURED  CLOUDS. 

Eve's  Jill-en  couch  tuitb  gorgeous  tints  adorn , 

And  fire  the  arroivy  throne  of rijing  morn.  CANTO  I.  1.  Up. 

THE  rays  from  the  rifing  and  fetting.fun  are  refracted  by  our  fpherical 
atmofphere;  hence  the  moft  refrangible  rays,  as  the  violet,  indigo,  and  blue, 
jire  reflected  in  greater  quantities  from  the  morning  and  evening  ikies;  and 


?4*  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

the  leaft  refrangible  ones,  as  red  and  orange,  are  laft  feen  about  the  fettlng 
fun.  Hence  Mr.  Beguclin  obferved,  that  the  ihadow  of  his  finger  on  his 
pocket-book  was  much  bluer  in  the  morning  and  evening,  when  the  ihadow 
was  about  eight  times  as  long  as  the  body  from  which  it  was  projeaed. 
Mr.  Melville  obferves,  that  the  blue  rays  being  more  refrangible,  are  bent 
down  in  the  evenings  by  our  atmofpherc,  while  the  red  and  orange,  being 
lefs  refrangible,  continue  to  pafs  on,  and  tinge  the  morning  and  evening 
clouds  with  their  colours.  See  Prieftley's  Hiftory  of  Light  and  Colours, 
p.  440.  But  as  the  particles  of  air,  like  thofe  of  water,  are  themfelves  blue, 
a  blue  fhadow  may  be  feen  at  all  times  of  the  day,  though  much  more 
beautifully  in  the  mornings  and  evenings,  or  by  means  of  a  candle  in  the 
middle  of  the  day.  For  if  a  fhadow  on  a  piece  of  white  paper  is  produced 
by  placing  your  finger  between  the  paper  and  a  candle  in  the  day  light,  the 
fhadow  will  appear  very  blue;  the  yellow  light  of  the  candle  upon  the  other 
parts  of  the  paper  apparently  deepens  the  blue  by  its  contraft,  thcfe  colours 
being  oppofite  to  each  other,  as  explained  in  note  II. 

Colours  are  produced  from  clouds  or  mifls  by  refraction,  as  well  as  by 
reflection.  In  riding  in  the  night  over  an  unequal  country,  I  .obferved  a 
very  beautiful  coloured  halo  round  the  moon,  whenever  I  was  covered  with 
a  few  feet  of  mift,  as  I  afcended  from  the  vallies,  which  ceafed  to  appear 
when  I  rofe  above  the  mift.  This  I  fuppofe  was  owing  to  the  thinnefs  of 
the  ftratum  of  mift  in  which  I  was  immerfed;  had  it  been  thicker,  the  co- 
lours refracted  by  the  fmall  drops,  of  whicli  a  fog  confifts,  would  not  have 
pa{Ted  through  it  down  to  my  eye. 

There  is  a  bright  fpot  feen  on  the  cornea  of  the  eye,  when  we  face  a  win- 
dow, which  is  much   attended  to  by  portrait-painters;  this  is  the  light  re- 
flected from  the  fpherical  furface  of  the  polifhed   cornea,   and  brought  to  a 
focus;  if  the  obferver  is  placed  in  this  focus,  he  fees  the  image  of  the  win- 
dow; if  he  is  placed  before  or  behind  the  focus,  he  only  fees  a  luminous 
fpot,  which  is  more  luminous,  and  of  lefs  extent,  the  nearer  he  approaches 
to  the  focus.     The  luminous  appearance  of  the  eyes  of  animals  in  the  dufky 
corners  of  a  room,  or  in  holes  in  the   earth,  may  arife,  in  fome  inftances, 
from  the  fame  principle;  viz.  the  reflection  of  the  light  from  the  fpherica! 
cornea,  which  will  be  coloured  red  or  blue,  in  fome  degree,  by  the  morn- 
ing, evening,  or  meridian  light,  or  by  the  objects  from  which  that  light  is 
previoufly  reflected.     In  the  cavern  at   Colebrook  Dale,  where  the  mineral 
tar  exfudes,  the  eyes  of  the  horfe  which  was  drawing  a  cart  from  within 
towards  the  mouth  of  it,  appeared  like  two  balls  of  phofphorus,  when  he 
was  above  100  yards  off,  and  for  a  long  time  before  any  other  part  of  the 
animal  was  vifible.     In  this  cafe  I  fufpect  the  luminous  appearance  to  have 
been  owing  to  the  light  which  had  entered  the  eye,   being  reflected  from 
the  back  furface  of  the  vitreous  humor,  and  thence  emerging  again  in  pa- 
rallel rays  from  the  animal's  eye,  as  it   does  from  the  back  furface  of  the 
drops  of  the  rainbow,  and  from  the  water-drops  which  lie,  perhaps  without 
contact,  on  cabbage-leaves,  and  have  the  brilliancy  of  quick-filver.     This 
accounts  for  this  luminous  appearance  being  beft  feen  in  thofe  animals  which 
have  large  apertures  in  their  iris,  as  in  cats  and  horfcs,  and  is  the  only  part 


NOTE  IV.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  i^ 

vifible  in  obfcure  places,  becaufe  this  is  a  better  reflecting  furface  than  any 
other  part  of  the  animal.  If  any  of  thefe  emergent  rays  from  the  animal's 
eye  can  be  fuppofed  to  have  been  reflected  from  the  choroid  coat,  through 
the  femi-tranfparent  retina,  this  would  account  for  the  coloured  glare  of  the 
eyes  of  dogs,  or  cats,  and  rabits,  in  dark  corners. 


NOTE  IV.— COMETS. 

Alarm  ivith  comet-blaze  the  fapphire  plain  y 

The  tvanjlars  glimmering  through  its  fiver  train.  CANTO  I.  1.  I33« 

THERE  have  been  many  theories  invented  to  account  for  the  tails  of  co- 
mets. Sir  Ifaac  Newton  thinks  that  they  confift  of  rare  vapours  raifed  from 
the  nucleus  of  the  comet,  and  fo  rarefied  by  the  fun's  heat  as  to  have  their 
general  gravitation  diminifhed,  and  that  they,  in  confequence,  afcend  oppo- 
fite  to  the  fun,  and  from  thence  reflect  the  rays  of  light.  Dr.  HaUey  com- 
pares the  light  of  the  tails  of  comets  to  the  ftreams  of  the  aurora  borealis, 
and  other  electric  effluvia.  Phil.  Tranf.  No.  347. 

Dr.  Hamilton  obferves,  that  the  light  of  fmall  ftars  is  feen  undiminifhed 
through  both  the  light  of  the  tails  of  comets,  and  of  the  aurora  borealis,  and 
has  farther  illuftrated  their  ele&ric  analogy;  and  adds,  that  the  tails  of  co- 
mets confift  of  a  lucid  felf-fhining  fubftance,  which  has  not  the  power  of  re- 
fracting or  reflecting  the  rays  of  light,  EfTays. 

The  tail  of  the  comet  of  1744,  at  one  time  appeared  to  extend  above  1 6 
degrees  from  its  body,  and  muft  have  thence  been  above  twenty-three  mil- 
lions of  miles  long.  And  the  comet  of  1680,  according  to  the  calculations 
of  Dr.  Halley,  on  Nov.  the  nth,  was  not  above  one  femi-diameter  of  the 
earth,  or  lefs  than  4000  miles  to  the  northward  of  the  way  of  the  earth; 
at  which  time  had  the  earth  been  in  that  part  of  its  orbit,  what  might  have 
been  the  confequence!  No  one  would  probably  have  furvived  to  have  re- 
giftered  the  tremendous  effects. 

The  comet  of  1531,  1607,  and  1682,  having  returned  in  the  year  1759, 
according  to  Dr.  Halley's  prediction  in  the  Phil.  Tranf.  for  1705,  there 
feems  no  reafon  to  doubt  that  all  the  other  comets  will  return  after  their 
proper  periods.  Aflronomers  have  in  general  acquiefced  in  the  conjecture 
of  Dr.  Halley,  that  the  comets  of  1532,  and  1661,  are  one  and  the  fame 
comet,  from  the  fimilarity  of  the  elements  of  their  orbits,  and  were,  there- 
fore, induced  to  expect  its  return  to  its  perihelium  in  1789.  As  this  comet 
is  liable  to  be  difturbed,  in  its  afcent  from  die  fun,  by  the  planets  Jupiter 
and  Saturn,  Dr.  Mafkelyne  expected  its  return  to  its  perihelium  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1789,  or  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1788,  and  certainly 
fome  time  before  the  27rh  of  April,  1789;  which  prediction  , has  not  been 
fulfilled.  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  LXXVI. 

As  the  comets  are  fmall  mafles  of  matter,  and  pafs  in  their  perihelion 
very  near  the  fun,  and  become  invifible  to  us,  on  thefe  accounts,  in  a  fhorr. 


14*  BOTANIC  GARDENT.  PART  L 

fpace  of  time,  their  number  has  not  yet  been  afcertained,  and  will  pro- 
bably increafe  with  the  improvement  of  our  telefcopes.  M.  Bode  has  gi- 
ven a  table  of  72  comets,  whofe  orbits  are  already  calculated;  of  thefe 
60  pafs  within  the  earth's  orbit,  and  only  twelve  without  it ;  and  molt  of 
them  appear  between  the  orbits  of  Venus  and  Mercury,  or  nearly  midway 
between  the  fun  and  earth ;  from  whence,  and  from  the  planes  of  their  or- 
bits being  inclined  to  that  of  the  earth  and  other  planets  in  all  poflible  an- 
gles, they  are  believed  to  be  lefs  liable  to  interfere  with,  or  injure  each 
other.  M.  Bode  afterwards  inquires  into  the  neareft  approach  it  is  poflible 
for  each  of  the  known  comets  to  make  towards  the  earth's  orbit.  He  finds 
that  only  three  of  them  can  come  within  a  diftance  equal  to  two  or  three 
times  the  diftance  of  the  moon  from  it ;  and  then  adds  the  great  improba- 
bility, that  the  earth  ihould  be  in  that  dangerous  point  of  its  orbit,  at  the 
inftant  when  a  comet,  which  may  have  been  abfent  fome  centuries,  paffes 
fo  rapidly  pail  it.  Hiftoire  de  1'Academ.  Royal.  Berlin.  1792. 


NOTE  V.— SUN's  RAYS. 

Or  give  the  fun's  phlogiftic  orb  to  roll.  CANTO  I.  1.  136* 

THE  difpute  among  philofophers  about  phlogifton  is  not  concerning  the 
exiftence  of  an  inflammable  principle,  but  rather  whether  there  be  one  or 
more  inflammable  principles.  The  difciples  of  Stahl,  which  till  lately  in- 
cluded the  whole  chemical  world,  believed  in  the  identity  of  phlogifton  in  all 
bodies  which  would  flame  or  calcine.  The  difciples  of  Lavoifier  pay  homage 
to  a  plurality  of  phlogiftons,  under  the  various  names  of  charcoal,  fulphur, 
metals,  &c.  Whatever  will  unite  with  pure  air,  and  thence  compofe  an  acid, 
is  efteemed,  in  this  ingenious  theory,  to  be  a  different  kind  of  phlogiftic  or 
inflammable  body.  At  the  fame  time  there  remains  a  doubt  whether  thefe 
inflammable  bodies,  as  metals,  fulphur,  charcoal,  &c.  may  not  be  compounded 
of  the  fame  phlogifton  along  with  fome  other  material  yet  undifcovered,  and 
thus  an  unity  of  phlogifton  exift,  as  in  the  theory  of  Stahl,  though  very  dif- 
ferently applied  in  the  explication  of  chemical  phenomena. 

Some  modern  philofophers  are  of  opinion,  that  the  fun  is  the  great  fountain 
from  which  the  earth  and  other  planets  derive  all  the  phlogifton  which  they 
poffds;  and  that  this  is  formed  by  the  combination  of  the  folar  rays  with  all 
opake  bodies,  but  particularly  with  the  leaves  of  vegetables,  which  they  fup- 
pofe  to  be  organs  adapted  to  abforb  them.  And  that  as  animals  receive  their 
nourifliment  from  vegetables,  they  alfo  obtain,  in  a  fecondary  manner,  their 
phlcgifton  from  the  fun.  And  laftly,  as  great  maffes  of  the  mineral  kingdom, 
which  have  been  found  in  the  thin  cruft  of  the  earth  which  human  labour  has 
penetrated,  have  evidently  been  formed  from  the  recrements  of  animal  and 
vegetable  bodies,  thefe  alfo  are  fuppofed  thus  to  have  derived  their  phlogifton 
from  the  fun. 

Another  opinion  concerning  the  fun's  rays  is,  that  they  are  not  luminous 


VI.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  14$ 

till  they  arrive  at  our  atmofphere ;  and  that  there  uniting  with  fome  part  of 
the  air,  they  produce  combuftion,  and  light  is  emitted;  and  that  an  ethereal 
acid,  yet  undiscovered,  is  formed  from  this  combuftion. 

The  more  probable  dpinion  is,  perhaps,  that  the  fun  is  a  phlogiftic  mafs  of 
matter,  whofe  furface  is  in  a  ftate  of  combuftion,  which,  like  other  burning 
bodies,  emits  light,  with  immenfe  velocity,  in  all  directions ;  that  thefc 
rays  of  light  a6l  upon  all  opake  bodies,  and,  combining  with  them,  either 
difplace  or  produce  their  elementary  heat,  and  become  chemically  combined 
with  the  phlogiftic  part  of  them ;  for  light  is  given  out  when  phlogiftic  bo- 
dies unite  with  the  oxygenous  principle  of  the  air,  as  in  combuftion,  or  in 
the  reduction  of  metallic  calxes ;  thus  in  prefenting  to  the  flame  of  a  candle 
a  letter-wafer  (if  it  be  coloured  with  red-lead)  at  the  time  the  red-lead  be- 
comes a  metallic  drop,  a  flafti  of  light  is  perceived.  Dr.  Alexander  Wilfon 
very  ingenioufly  endeavours  to  prove,  that  the  fun  is  only  in  a  ftate  of  com- 
buftion on  its  furface,  and  that  the  dark  fpots  feen  on  the  diflc  are  excava- 
tions or  caverns  through  the  luminous  cruft,  fome  of  which  are  4000  miles 
in  diameter.  Phil.  Tranf.  1774.  Of  this  I  Ihall  have  occafion  to  fpeak 
again. 


NOTE  VI.— CENTRAL  FIRES. 

JR.ound  her  Jlill  centre  tread  the  burning  foil^ 

And  -watch  the  billo'wy  Lavas  as  they  boil.  CANTO  I.  1.  139. 

M.  DE  MAIRAN,  in  a  paper  publifhed  in  the  Hiftoire  de  1'Academie 
<le  Sciences,  1765,  has  endeavoured  to  fhew,  that  the  earth  receives  but  a 
fmall  part  of  the  heat  which  it  pofieffes,  from  the  fun's  rays,  but  it  is  prin- 
cipally heated  by  fires  within  itfelf.  He  thinks  the  fun  is  the  caufe  of  the 
viciflitudes  of  our  feafons  of  fummer  and  winter,  by  a  very  fmall  quantity 
of  heat  in  addition  to  that  already  refiding  in  the  earth,  which,  by  emana- 
tions from  the  centre  to  the  circumference,  renders  the  furface  habitable* 
and  without  which,  though  the  fun  was  conftantly  to  illuminate  two 
thirds  of  the  globe  at  once,  with  a  heat  equal  to  that  at  the  equator,  it 
would  foon  become  a  mafs  of  iblid  ice.  His  reafonings  and  calculations  on 
this  fubjecl:  are  too  long  and  too  intricate  to  be  inferted  here,  but  are 
equally  curious  and  ingenious,  and  carry  much  conviction  along  with  them. 

The  opinion  that  the  centre  of  the  earth  confifts  of  a  large  mafs  of  burn- 
ing lava,  has  been  efpoufed  by  Boyle,  Boerhaave,  and  many  other  philo-' 
fophers.  Some  of  whom,  confidering  its  fuppofed  effects  on  vegetation  and  the 
formation  of  minerals,  have  called  it  a  fecond  fun.  There  are  many  argu- 
ments in  fupport  of  this  opinion.  I.  Becaufe  the  power  of  the  fun  does 
not  extend  much  beyond  ten  feet  deep  into  the  earth,  all  below  being,  in 
winter  and  fummer,  always  of  the  fame  degree  of  heat,  viz.  48,  which  being 
much  warmer  than  the  mildeft  froft,  is  fuppofed  to  be  fuftained  by  fome  in- 
ternal diftant  fire.  Add  to  this,  however,  that  from  experiments  made  fome 

FART  I.  U 


BOTANIC  GARDEN;  PART  I. 

years  ago  by  Dr.  Franklin,  the  fpring-water  at  Philadelphia  appeared  to  be  of 
5 a  of  heat,  wfeich  feems  farther  to  confirm  this  opinion,  fince  the  climates  in 
North-America  are  fuppofed  to  be  colder  than  thofe  of  Europe  under  fimi. 
lar  degrees  of  latitude.     2.  M.  De  Luc,  in  going  1359  feet  perpendicular 
into  the  mines  of  Hartz,  on  July  the  jth,  1778,  on  a  very  fine  day,  found 
the  air  at  the  bottom  a  little  warmer  than  at  the  top  of  the  {haft.     Phil. 
Tranf.  vol.  LXIX.  p.  488.      In  the  mines  in  Hungary,  which  are  joo  cu- 
bits deep,  the  heat  becomes  very  troublefome  when  the  miners  get  below 
480  feet  depth.     Morinus  de  Locis  fubter.   p.  131.     But  as  fome  other  deep 
mines,  as  mentioned  by  Mr.  Kirwan,  are  faid  to  pofiefs  but  the  Common  heat 
of  the  earth ;  and  as  the  cruft  of  the  globe,  thus  penetrated  by  human  labour, 
is  fo  thin  compared  with  the  whole,  no  certain  deduction  can  be  made  from 
thefe  fa&s  on  either  fide  of  the  queftion.     3*  The  warm-fprings  in  many 
parts  of  the  earth,  at  great  diftance  from  any  volcanos,  feem  to  originate 
from  the  condenfaticn  of  vapours  arifing  from  water  which  is  boiled  by  fub- 
terraneous  fires,  and  cooled  again  in  their  pafiage  through  a  certain  length 
of  the  colder  foil;  for  the  theory  of  chemical  folution  will  not  explain  the 
equality  of  their  heat  at  all  feafdris,  and  through  fo  many  centuries.     See 
note  on  Fucus,  in  vol.  II.     See  a  letter  on  this  fubject  in  Mr.  Pilkinton's 
View  of  Derbyfhire,  from  Dr.  Darwin.    4.  From  the  fituations  of  volcanos 
which  are  always  found  upon  the  fummit  of  the  higheft  mountains.     For 
as  thefe  mountains  have  been  lifted  up,  and  lofe  feveral  of  their  uppermoft 
ftrata  as  they  rife,  the  loweft  flrata  of  the  earth  yet  known  appear  at  the 
tops  of  the  higheft  hills ;  and  the  beds  of  the  volcanos  upon  thefe  hills  muft, 
in  confequence,  belong  to  the  loweft  ftrata  of  the  earth,  confifting,  perhaps, 
of  granite  or  bafaltes,  which  were  produced  before  the  eSiftence  of  animal 
ibr  vegetable  bodies,  and  might  conftitute  the  original  nucleus  of  the  earth, 
which  I  have  fuppofed  to  have  been  projected  from  the  fun;  hence  the  voi- 
canos  themfelves  appear  to  be  fpiracula,  or  chimneys,  belonging  to  great  cen- 
tral fires.     It  is  probably  owing  to  the  efcape  of  the  elaftic  vapours  from 
thefe  fpiracula,  that  the  modern  earthquakes  are  of  fuch  fmall  extent  com- 
pared with  thofe  of  remote  antiquity,  of  which  the  veftiges  remain  all  over 
the  globe.     5.  The  great  fize  and  height  of  the  continents,  and  the  great 
fize  and  depth  of  the  South-fea,  Atlantic,  and  other  oceans,  evince  that  the 
firft  earthquakes,  which  produced  thefe  immenfe  changes  in  the  globe,  muft 
have  been  occafioned  by  central  fireis.     6.  The  very  diftant  and  expeditious 
communication  of  the  fhocks  of  fome  great  earthquakes.     The  earthquake 
at  Lifbon,  in  1755,  was  perceived  in  Scotland,  in  the  Peak  of  Derbyfhire, 
and  in  many  other  diftant  parts  of  Europe,     The  percuflions  of  it  travelled 
with  about  the  velocity  of  found,  viz.  about  thirteen  miles  in   a   minute. 
The  earthquake  in  1693  extended  2600  leagues.     (Goldfmith's  Hiftory.) 
Thefe  phenomena  are  eafily  explained  if  the  central  parts  of  the  earth  con- 
fift  of  a  fluid  lava,  as  a  percufllon  on  one  part  of  fuch  a  fluid  mafs  would  be 
felt  on  other  parts  of  its  confining  vault,  like  a  ftroke  on  a  fluid  contained 
in  a  bladder,  which,  however  gentle  on  one  fide,  is  perceptible  to  the  hand, 
placed  on  the  other ;  and  the  velocity  with  which  fuch  a  concuflion  would 
travel,  would  be  that  of  foundj  or  thirteen  miles  in  a  minute.     For  further 


NOTE  VII.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  147 

information  on  this  part  of  the  fubjedt,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Mr.  Michel's 
excellent  treatife  on  earthquakes  in  the  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  LI.  7.  That  there 
is  a  cavity  at  the  centre  of  the  earth  is  made  probable  by  the  late  experi- 
ments on  the  attraction  of  mountains,  by  Mr.  Mafkelyne,  who  fuppofed, 
from  other  confiderations,  that  the  denfity  of  the  earth  near  the  furface 
fhould  be  five  times  lefs  than  its  mean  denfity.  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  LXV.  p. 
498.  But  found  from  the  attraction  of  the  mountain  Schehallien,  that  it  is 
probable,  the  mean  denfity  of  the  earth  is  but  double  that  of  the  hill.  Ibid, 
p.  533.  Hence,  if  the  firft  fuppofition  be  well  founded:,  there  would  appear 
to  be  a  cavity  at  the  centre  of  confiderable  magnitude,  from  whence  the 
immenfe  beds  and  mountains  of  lava,  toadftone,  bafaltes,  granite,  &c,  have 
been  protruded.  8.  The  variation  of  the  compafs  can  only  be  accounted 
for  by  fuppofing  the  central  parts  of  the  earth  to  confift  of  a  fluid  mafs,  and 
that  part  of  this  fluid  is  iron,  which,  requiring  a  greater  degree  of  heat 
to  bring  it  into  fufion  than  glafs  or  other  metals,  remains  a  folid,  and  the 
vis  inertae  of  this  fluid  mafs,  with  the  iron  in  it,  occafions  it  to  perform 
fewer  revolutions  than  the  cruft  of  folid  earth  over  it,  and  thus  it  is  gradu- 
ally left  behind,  and  the  place  where  the  floating  "iron  refides  is  pointed  to 
by  the  direct  or  retrograde  motions  of  the  magnetic  needle.  This  feems  to 
have  been  nearly  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Halley  and  Mr.  Euler. 


NOTE  VII.— ELEMENTARY  HEAT. 

Or  fphere  on  fphere  in  widening  -waves  expand ^ 

And  glad  with  genial  -warmth  the  incumbent  land,          CANTO  I.  1.  143. 

A  CERTAIN  quantity  of  heat  feems  to  be  combined  with  all  bodies,  be- 
fides  the  fenfible  quantity  which  gravitates  like  the  electric  fluid  amongfl 
them.  This  combined  heat,  or  latent  heat,  of  Dr.  Black,  when  fet  at  li- 
berty by  fermentation,  inflammation,  cryftallization,  freezing,  or  other  che- 
mical attractions  producing  new  combination,  pafles  as  a  fluid  element  into 
the  furrounding  bodies.  And  by  thawing,  diffufion  of  neutral  falts  in  wa- 
ter, melting,  and  other  chemical  folutions,  a  portion  of  heat  is  attracted 
from  the  bodies  in  vicinity,  and  enters  into  or  becomes  combined  with  the 
new  folutions. 

Hence  a  combination  of  metals  with  acids,  of  effential  oils  and  acids,  of  al- 
cohol and  water,  of  acids  and  water,  give  out  heat;  whilft  afotution  of  fnow 
in  water  or  in  acids,  and  of  neutral  falts  in  water,  attract  heat  from  the 
furreunding  bodies.  So  the  acid  of  nitre  mixed  with  oil  of  cloves  unites 
with  it,  and  produces  a  moft  violent  flame;  the  fame  acid  of  nitre  poured 
on  fnow  inftantly  diflolves  it,  and  produces  the  greateft  degree  of  cold  yet 
known,  by  which,  at  Peterfburgh,  quick-filver  was  firft  frozen  in  1760. 

Water  may  be  cooled  below  32  degrees  without  being  frozen,  if  it  be  placed 
on  a  folid  floor,  and  fecured  from  agitation ;  but  when  thus  cooled  below 
the  freezing  point,  the  leaft  agitation  turns  part  of  it  fuddenly  into  ice,  and 


J48  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PAKT  I< 

When  this  fudden  freezing  takes  place,  a  thermometer  placed  in  it  inftantly  ri- 
fes,  as  fome  heat  is  given  out  in  the  act  of  congelation,  and  the  ice  is  thus 
left  with  the  fame  fenfibh  degree  of  cold  as  the  water  had  poffeifed  before  it 
was  agitated,  but  is,  neverthelefs,  now  combined  with  lefs  latent  heat. 

A  cubic  inch  of  water  thus  cooled  down  to  32  degrees,  mixed  with  an 
equal  quantity  of  boiling  water  at  aiz  degrees,  will  cool  it  to  the  middle 
number  between. thefe  two,  or  to  iaz.  But  a  cubic  inch  of  ice,  whofe  fen- 
fib  le  cold  alfo  is  but  33,  mixed  with  an  equal  quantity  of  boiling  water, 
will  cool  it  fix  times  as  much  as  the  cubic  inch  of  cold  water  above-men- 
tioned, as  the  ice  not  only  gains  its  fhare  of  the  fenfible  or  gravitating  heat 
of  the  boiling  water,  but  attracts  to  itfelf  alfo,  and  combines  with  the  quan- 
tity of  latent  heat  which  it  had  loft  at  the  time  of  its  congelation. 

So  boiling,  water  will  acquire  but  312  degrees  of  heat  under  the  common 
preflure  of  the  atmofphere,  but  the  fleam  raifed  from  it  by  its  expanfion,  or 
by  its  folution  in  the  atmofphere,  combines  with  and  carries  away  a  prodi- 
gious quantity  of  heat,  which  it  again  parts  with  on  its  condenfation,  as  is 
feen  in  common  diftillation,  where  the  large  quantity  of  water  in  the  worm 
tub  is  fo  foon  heated.  Hence  the  evaporation  of  ether  on  a  thermometer 
foon  finks  the  mercury  below  freezing,  and  hence  a  warmth  of  the  air 
in  winter  frequently  fucceeds  a  fhower. 

When  the  matter  of  heat,  or  calorique,  is  fet  at  liberty  from  its  combina- 
tions, as  by  inflammation,  it  paffes  into  the  furronnding  bodies,  which  pof- 
fefs  different  capacities  of  acquiring  their  fhare  of  the  loofe  or  fenfible  heat; 
thus  a  pint  mgafure  of  cold  water  at  48  degrees,  mixed  with  a  pint  of  boil- 
ing water  at  21  z  degrees,  will  cool  it  to  the  degree  between  thefe  two 
numbers,  or  to  154  degrees,  but  it  requires  two  pint  meafures  of  quick-filver 
at  48  degrees  of  heat,  to  cool  one  pint  of  water  as  above.  Thefe  and  other 
curious  experiments  are  adduced  by  Dr.  Black,  to  evince  the  exiftence  of 
combined  or  latent  heat  in  bodies,  as  has  been  explained  by  fome  of  his  pu- 
pils, and  well  illuftrated  by  Dr.  Crawford.  The  world  has  long  been  in 
expectation  of  an  account  of  his  difcoveries  on  this  fubject  by  the  celebrated 
author  himfelf. 

As  this  doctrine  of  elementary  heat  in  its  fluid  and  combined  ftate  is  not 
yet  univerfally  received,  I  fhall  here  add  two  arguments  in  fupport  of  it, 
drawn  from  different  fources,  viz.  from  the  heat  given  out  or  abforbed 
by  the  mechanical  condenfation  or  expanfion  of  the  air,  and  perhaps  of 
other  bodies,  and  from  the  analogy  of  the  various  phenomena  of  hgat  with 
thofe  of  electricity. 

I.  If  a  thermometer  be  placed  in  the  receiver  of  an  air-pump,  and  the  air 
haftily  exhaufted,  the  thermometer  will  fink  fome  degrees,  and  the  glafs  be- 
come fteamy;  the  fame  occurs  in  haftily  admitting  a  part  of  the  air  again. 
This  I  fuppofe  to  be  produced  by  the  expanfion  of  part  of  the  air,  both  dur- 
ing the  exhauftion  and  re-admiffion  of  it;  and  that  the  air  fo  expanded  be- 
comes capable  of  attracting  from  the  bodies  in  its  vicinity  a  part  of  their 
heat,  hence  the  vapours  contained  in  it,  and  the  glafs  receiver,  are  for  a 
time  colder,  and  the  fleam  is  precipitated.  That  the  air  thus  parts  with  its 
woiflure  from  the  cold  occafioned  by  its  rarefaction,  and  not  limply  by  the 


NOTE  VII.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 

*arefa6Hon  itfelf,  is  evident,  becaufe,  in  a  minute  or  two,  the  fame 

fied  air  will  again  take  up  the  dew  depofited  on  the  receiver;  and  becaufe 

water  will  evaporate  fooner  in  rare  than  in  denfe  air. 

There  is  a  curious  phenomenon,  fimilar  to  this,  obferved  in  the  fountain  of 
Hiero,  conftructed  on  a  large  fcale  at  the  Chemnicenfian  mines  in  Hungary., 
In  this  machine,  the  air  in  a  large  vefiel  is  comprefied  by  a  column  of  wa- 
ter 260  feet  high,  a  (top-cock  is  then  opened,  and  as  the  air  iiTues  out  with 
great  vehemence,  and  thus  becomes  immediately  greatly  expanded,  fo  much 
cold  is  produced,  that  the  moifture  from  this  ftream  of  air  is  precipitated  in 
the  form  of  fnow,  and  ice  is  formed,  adhering  to  the  nofel  of  the  cock. 
This  remarkable  circumftance  is  defcribed  at  large,  with  a  plate  of  the  ma- 
chine, in  thil.  Tranf.  vol.  LII.  for  1761. 

The  following  experiment  is  related  by  Dr.  Darwin,  in  the  Phil.  Tranf. 
vol.  LXXVIII.  Having  charged  an  air-gun  as  forcibly  as  he  well  could, 
the  air-cell  and  fyringe  became  exceedingly  hot,  much  more  fo  than  could 
be  afcribed  to  the  friction  in  working  it;  it  was  then  left  about  half  an 
hour  to  cool  down  the  temperature  of  the  air,  and  a  thermometer  having 
been  previoufly  fixed  againft  a  wall,  the  air  was  difcharged  in  a  continual 
ftream  on  its  bulb,  and  it  funk  many  degrees.  From  thefe  three  experi- 
ments of  the  fteam  in  the  exhaufted  receiver  being  depofited  and  re-abforb- 
ed,  when  a  part  of  the  air  is  exhaufted  or  re-admitted,  and  the  fnow  pro- 
duced by  the  fountain  of  Hiero,  and  the  extraordinary  heat  given  out  in 
charging,  and  the  cold  produced  in  difcharging  an  air-gun,  there  is  reafon 
to  conclude,  that  when  air  is  mechanically  comprefled,  the  elementary  fluid 
heat  is  preffed  out  of  it,  and  that  when  it  is  mechanically  expanded  the 
fame  fluid  heat  is  re-abforbed  from  the  common  mafs. 

It  is  probable  all  other  bodies  as  well  as  air  attract  heat  from  their  neigh- 
bours when  they  are  mechanically  expanded,  and  give  it  out  when  they  are 
mechanically  condenfed.  Thus  when  a  vibration  of  the  particles  of  hard 
bodies  is  excited  by  friction  or  by  percuflion,  thefe  particles  mutually  recede 
from  and  approach  each  other  reciprocally ;  at  the  times  of  their  recefiion 
from  each  other,  the  body  becomes  enlarged  in  bulk,  and  is  then  in  a  con- 
dition to  attract  heat  from  thofe  in  its  vicinity  with  great  and  fudden  power, 
at  the  times  of  their  approach  to  each  other  this  heat  is  again  given  out ; 
but  the  bodies  in  conta<5l  having  in  the  mean  while  received  the  heat  they 
had  thus  loft,  from  other  bodies  behind  them,  do  not  fo  fuddenly  or  fo  for- 
cibly re-abforb  the  heat  again  from  the  body  in  vibration;  hence  it  remains 
on  its  furface  like  the  electric  fluid  on  a  rubbed  glafs  globe,  and  for  the 
fame  reafon,  becaufe  there  is  no  good  conductor  to  take  it  up  again.  Hence 
at  every  vibration  more  and  more  heat  is  acquired,  and  ftands  loofe  upon 
the  furface,  as  in  filing  metals,  or  rubbing  glafs  tubes,  and  thus  a  fmith,  with  a, 
few  ftrokes  on  a  nail  on  his  anvil,  can  make  it  hot  enough  to  light  a  brim- 
ftone  match;  and  hence  in  ftriking  flint  and  fteel  together,  heat  enough  is 
produced  to  vitrify  the  parts  thus  ftrucken  off,  the  quantity  of  which  heat 
is  again  probably  increafed  by  the  new  chemical  combination. 

II.  The  analogy  between  the  phenomena  of  the  electric  fluid  and  of  heat, 
furnifhes  another  argument  in  fupport  of  the  esiftence  of  heat  as  a  gravitatt 


BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I, 

ing  fluid.  I.  They  are  both  accumulated  by  friction  on  the  excited  body. 
1.  They  are  propagated  eafily  or  with  difficulty  along  the  fame  clafles  of 
bodies;  with  eafe  by  metals,  with  lefs  eafe  by  water,  and  with  difficulty  by 
refms,  bees- wax,  filk,  air,  and  glafs.  Thus  glafs  canes,  or  canes  of  fealing- 
wax,  may  be  melted  by  a  blow-pipe,  or  a  candle,  within  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  of  the  fingers  which  hold  them,  without  any  inconvenient  heat,  while 
a  pin,  or  other  metallic  fubftance,  applied  to  the  flame  of  a  candle,  fo  rea- 
dily conducts  the  heat  as  immediately  to  burn  the  fingers.  Hence  clothes 
of  filk  keep  the  body  warmer  than  clothes  of  linen  of  equal  thicknefs,  by 
confining  the  heat  upon  the  body.  And  hence  plains  are  fo  much  warmer 
than  the  fummits  of  mountains,  by  the  greater  denfity  of  the  air  confining 
the  acquired  heat  upon  them.  3.  They  both  give  out  light  in  their  pafiage 
through  air,  perhaps  not  in  their  pafiage  through  a  vacuum.  4.  They  both 
of  them  fufe  or  vitrify  metals.  5.  Bodies,  after  being  electrized,  if  they  are 
mechanically  extended,  will  receive  a  greater  quantity  of  electricity,  as  in 
Dr.  Franklin's  experiment  of  the  chain  in  the  tankard;  the  fame  feems  true 
in  refpect  to  heat,  as  explained  above.  6.  Both  heat  and  electricity  con- 
tribute to  fufpend  fteam  in  the  atmofphere,  by  producing  or  increafing  the 
repulfion  of  its  particles.  7.  They  both  gravitate,  when  they  have  been 
accumulated,  till  they  find  their  equilibrium. 

If  we  add  to  the  above  the  many  chemical  experiments  which  receive  an 
cafy  and  elegant  explanation  from  the  fuppofed  matter  of  heat,  as  employed 
in  the  works  of  Bergman  and  Lavoifier,  I  think  we  may  reafonably  allow  of 
its  exiftence  as  an  element,  occafionally  combined  with  other  bodies,  and  oc- 
cafionally  exifting  as  a  fluid,  like  the  electric  fluid  gravitating  amongft  them, 
and  that  hence  it  may  be  propagated  from  the  central  fires  of  the  earth 
to  the  whole  mafs,  and  contribute  to  preferve  the  mean  heat  of  the  earth, 
which,  in  this  country,  is  about  48  degrees,  but  variable  from  the  greater  or 
lefs  effect  of  the  fun's  heat  in  different  climates,  fo  well  explained  in  Mr. 
Kirwan's  Treatifc  on  the  temperature  of  different  latitudes.  1787.  Elmfly. 
London. 


NOTE  VIIL— MEMNON's  LYRE. 

So  to  the  facred  Sun  in  Memnons  fane, 

Spontaneous  concords  quired  the  matin  f  rain.  CANTO  I.  1.  183. 

THE  gigantic  ftatue  of  Memnon,  in  his  temple  at  Thebes,  had  a  lyre  in 
his  hands,  which,  many  credible  writers  aflure  us,  founded  when  the  rifing 
fun  fhone  upon  it.  Some  philofophers  have  fuppofed  that  the  fun's  light 
poflefles  a  mechanical  impulfe,  and  that  the  founds  above-mentioned  might 
be  thence  produced.  Mr.  Michel  conftructed  a  very  tender  horizontal  ba- 
lance, as  related  by  Dr.  Prieflley  in  his  hityory  of  light  and  colours,  for  this 
purpofe,  but  fome  experiments,  with  this  balance,  which  I  faw  made  by  the 
late  Dr.  Powel,  who  threw  tjie  focus  of  a  large  reflector  on  one  extremity 


K[OTE  IX;  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  T$i 

&f  it,  were  not  conclufive  either  way,  as  the  copper  leaf  of  the  balance  ap- 
proached in  one  experiment  and  receded  in  another. 

There  are,  however,  methods  by  which  either  a  rotative  or  alternating 
motion  may  be  produced  by  very  moderate  degrees  of  heat.  If  a  ftraight 
glafs  tube,  fuch  as  are  ufed  for  barometers,  be  fufpended  horizontally  before 
a  fire,  like  a  roafting  fpit,  it  will  revolve  by  intervals ;  for  as  glafs  is  a  bad 
conductor  of  heat,  the  lide  next  the  fire  becomes  heated  fooner  than  the  op- 
pofite  fide,  and  the  tube  becomes  bent  into  a  bow,  with  the  external  part  of 
the  curve  towards  the  fire;  this  curve  then  falls  down,  and  produces  a  fourth 
part  of  a  revolution  of  the  glafs  tube,  which  thus  revolves  with  intermediate 
paufes. 

Another  alternating  motion  I  have  feen  produced  by  fufpending  a  glad 
tube  about  eight  inches  long,  with  bulbs  at  each  end,  on  a  centre  like  a  fcale- 
beam.  This  curious  machine  is  filled  about  ene  third  part  with  pureft  fpirit 
of  wine,  the  other  two  thirds  being  a  vacuum,  and  is  called  a  pulfe-glafs: 
if  it  be  placed  on  a  box  before  the  fire,  fo  that  either  bulb,  as  it  rifes,  may 
become  lhaded  from  the  fire,  and  expofed  to  it  when  it  defcends,  an  alter- 
nate libration  of  it  is  produced.  For  fpirit  of  wine  in  vacuo  emits  fteam  by 
a  very  fmall  degree  of  heat,  and  this  fteam  forces  the  fpirit  beneath  it  up 
into  the  upper  bulb,  which  therefore  defcends.  It  is  probable  fuch  a  ma- 
chine, on  a  larger  fcale,  might  be  of  ufe  to  open  the  doors  or  windows  of  hot- 
houfes  or  melon-frames,  when  the  air  within  them  fhould  become  too  much 
heated,  or  might  be  employed  in  more  important  mechanical  purpofes. 

On  travelling  through  a  hot  fummcr's  day  in  a  chaife,  with  a  box  co- 
vered with  leather  on  the  fore-axle-tree,  I  obferved,  as  the  fun  ihone  upon 
the  black  leather,  the  box  began  to  open  its  lid,  which,  at  noon,  rofe  above 
a  foot,  and  could  not,  without  great  force,  be  prefled  down;  and  which 
gradually  clofed  again  as  the  fun  declined  in  the  evening.  This,  I  fuppofe, 
might  with  ftill  greater  facility  be  applied  to  the  purpofe  of  opening  melon- 
frames,  or  the  fafhes  of  hot-houfes. 

The  ftatue  of  Memnon  was  overthrown  and  fawed  in  two  by  Cambyfes, 
to  difcover  its  internal  ftrudure,  and  is  faid  ftill  to  exift.  See  Savery's  Let- 
ters on  Egypt.  The  truncated  ftatue  is  faid,  for  many  centuries,  to  have 
faluted  the  rifing  fun  with  cheerful  tones,  and  the  fetting  fun  with  melan-» 
choly  ones. 


NOTE  IX.— LUMINOUS  INSECTS. 

Star  of  the  earthy  and  diamond  of  the  niglt.  CANTO  I.  1.  196. 

THERE  are  eighteen  fpecies  of  Lampyris,  or  glow-worm,  according  to 
Linnaeus,  fbme  of  which  are  found  in  almoft  every  part  of  the  world.  In 
many  of  the  fpecies  the  females  have  no  wings,  and  are  fuppofed  to  be  difcovered 
by  the  winged  males  by  their  fhining  in  the  night.  They  become  much 
more  lucid  when  they  put  themfelves  in  motion,  which  would  feem  to  in- 


i$fc  BOTANIC  GARDEN:  PART!. 

dicate  that  their  light  is  owing  to  their  refpiration ;  in  which  procefs  it  i* 
probable  phofphoric  acid  is  produced  by  the  combination  of  vital  air  with 
ibme  part  of  the  blood,  and  that  light  is  given  out  through  their  tranfparent 
bodies,  by  this  flow  internal  combuftion. 

There  is  a  fire-fly,  of  the  beetle  kind,  defcribed  in  the  Diet.  Raifonne,  un- 
der the  name  of  Acudia,  which  is  faid  to  be  two  inches  long,  and  inhabits 
the  Weft-Indies  and  South- America;  the  natives  ufe  them  inftead  of  candles, 
putting  from  one  to  three  of  them  under  a  glafs.  Madam  Merian  fays, 
that  at  Surinam  the  light  of  this  fly  is  fo  great,  that  flue  faw  fufficiently  well 
by  one  of  them  to  paint  and  finifh  one  of  the  figures  of  them  in  her  work 
on  infers.  The  largeft  and  oldeft  of  them  are  faid  to  become  four  inches 
long,  and  to  fhine  like  a  {hooting  ftar  as  they  fly,  and  are  thence  called  Lan- 
tern-bearers. The  ufe  of  this  light  to  the  infect  itfelf  feems  to  be,  that  it 
may  not  fly  againft  objects  in  the  night;  by  which  contrivance  thefe  infects 
are  enabled  to  procure  their  fuftenance  either  by  night  or  day,  as  their 
wants  may  require,  or  their  numerous  enemies  permit  them;  whereas  fome 
of  our  beetles  have  eyes  adapted  only  to  the  night,  and  if  they  happen  to 
come  abroad  too  foon  in  the  evening,  are  fo  dazzled  that  they  fly  againft 
every  thing  in  their  way.  See  note  on  Phofphorus,  No.  X. 

In  fome  feas,  as  particularly  about  the  coaft  of  Malabar,  as  a  fhip  floats 
along,  it  feems,  during  the  night,  to  be  furrounded  with  fire,  and  to  leave 
a  long  tract  of  light  behind  it.  Whenever  the  fea  is  gently  agitated,  it 
feems  converted  into  little  ftars;  every  drop,  as  it  breaks,  emits  light,  like 
bodies  electrified  in  the  dark.  Mr.  Bornare  fays,  that  when  he  was  at  the 
port  of  Cettes,  in  Languedoc,  and  bathing  with  a  companion  in  the  fea, 
after  a  very  hot  day,  they  both  appeared  covered  with  fire  after  every  im- 
merfion,  and  that  laying  his  wet  hand  on  the  arm  of  his  companion,  who 
had  not  then  dipped  himfelf,  the  exact  mark  of  his  hand  and  fingers  was 
feen  in  characters  of  fire.  As  numerous  microfcopic  infects  are  found  in 
this  fhining  water,  its  light  has  been  generally  afcribcd  to  them,  though  it 
feems  probable  that  fifh-flime,  in  hot  countries,  may  become  in  fuch  a  ftate 
of  incipient  putrefaction,  as  to  give  light,  efpecially  when  by  agitation  it  is 
more  expofed  to  the  air;  otherwife  it  is  not  eafy  to  explain  why  agitation 
ihould  be  neceffary  to  produce  this  marine  light.  See  note  on  Phofphorus, 
No.  X, 


NOTE  X.— PHOSPHORUS. 

Or  mark  with  Jbining  letters  KnnkeVs  nams 

In  the  pale  phofphor*!  fdf-confumingfiame.  CANTO  I.  1.  231. 

KDNKEL,  a  native  of  Hamburgh,  was  the  firft  who  difcovered  to 
the  world  the  procefs  for  producing  phofphorus,  though  Brandt  and  Boyle 
were  likewife  faid  to  have  previoufly  had  the  art  of  making  it.  It  was  ob- 
tained from  fal  microcofmicum,  by  evaporation,  in  .the  form  of  an  acid,  but 


NOTE  X.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  155 

has  fince  been  found  in  other  animal  fubftances,  as  in  the  aflies  of  bones,  and 
even  in  fome  vegetables,  as  in  wheat  flour.  Keir's  Chemical  Diet.  This 
phofphoric  acid  is,  like  all  other  acids,  united  with  vital  air,  and  requires  to- 
be  treated  with  charcoal  or  phlogifton  to  deprive  it  of  this  air;  it  then  be- 
comes a  kind  of  animal  fulphur,  but  of  fo  inflammable  a  nature,  that  on  the 
accefs  of  air  it  takes  fire  fpontaneoufly,  and,  as  it  burns,  becomes  again  united 
with  vital  air,  and  re-affumes  its  form  of  phofphoric  acid. 

As  animal  refpiration  feems  to  be  a  kind  of  flow  combuftion,  in  which  it 
is  probable  that  phofphoric  acid  is  produced  by  the  union  of  phofphorus  with 
the  vital  air,  fo  it  is  alfo  probable  that  phofphoric  acid  is  produced  in  the 
excretory  or  refpiratory  veffels  of  luminous  infects,  as  the  glow-worm  and 
fire-fly,  and  fome  marine  infects.  From  the  fame  principle  I  fuppofe  the 
light  from  putrid  flefh,  as  from  the  heads  of  haddocks,  and  from  putrid  veal, 
and  from  rotten  wood,  in  a  certain  ftate  of  their  putrefaction,  is  produced, 
and  phofphorus,  thus  flowly  combined  with  air,  is  changed  into  phofphoric 
acid.  The  light  from  the  Bolognian  ftone,  and  from  calcined  (hells,  and 
from  white  paper,  and  linen,  after  having  been  expofed  for  a  time  to  the 
fun's  light,  feem  to  produce  either  the  phofphoric  or  fome  other  kind  of 
acid,  from  the  fulphurous  or  phlogiftic  matter  which  they  contain.  See  note 
on  Beccari's  fhells,  1.  182. 

There  is  another  procefs  feems  fimilar  to  this  flow  combuftion,  and  thafe 
is  bleaching.     By  the  warmth  and  light  of  the  fun,  the  water  fprinkled  upon 
linen  or  cotton  cloth  feems  to  be  decompofed  (if  we  credit  the  theory  of 
M.  Lavoifier),  and  a  part  of  the  vital  air  thus  fet  at  liberty  and  uncombined, 
and  not  being  in  its  elaftic  form,  more  eafily  diffolves  the  colouring  or  phlo- 
giftic matter  of  the  cloth,  and  produces  a  new  acid,  which  is  itfelf  colourlef?, 
or  is  wafhed  out  of  the  cloth  by  water.     The  new  procefs  of  bleaching 
confirms  a  part  of  this  theory,  for  by  uniting  much  vital  air  to  marine  acid, 
by  diftiiling  it  from  manganefe,  on  dipping  the  cloth  to  be  bleached  in  wa- 
ter replete  with  this  fupcraerated  marine  acid,  the  colouring  matter  difap- 
pears  immediately,  fooner  indeed  in  cotton  than  in  linen.    Sec  note  XXXIV. 
There  is  another  procefs  which,  I  fufpect,  bears  analogy  to  thefe  above- 
mentioned,  and  that  is  the  rancidity  of  animal  fat,  as  of  bacon ;  if  bacon  be 
hung  up  in  a  warm  kitchen,  with  much  fait  adhering  on  the  outfide  of  it, 
the  fat  part  of  it  foon  becomes  yellow  and  rancid ;  if  it  be  wafhed  with  much 
cold  water  after  it  has  imbibed  the  fait,  and  juft  before  it  is  hung  up,  I  am. 
•well  informed,  that  it  will  not  become  rancid,  or  in  very  flight  degrees.     In 
the  former  cafe  I  imagine  the  fait  on  the  furface  of  the  bacon  attracts  water 
during  the  cold  of  the  night,  which  is  evaporated  during  the  day,  and  that 
in  this  evaporation  a  part  of  the  water  becomes  decompoft-d,  as  in  bleaching, 
and  its  vital  air  uniting  with  greater  facility  in  its  unelaftic  ftate  with  the 
animal  fat,  produces  an  acid,  perhaps  of  the  phofphoric  kind,  which  being 
of  a  fixed  nature,  lies  upon  the  bacon,  giving  it  the  yellow  colour  and  rancid 
tnfte.     It  is  remarkable  that  the  fuperaerated  marine  acid  does  not  bleach 
living  animal  fubftances,  at  leaft  it  did  not  whiten  a  part  of  my  hand  which 
I  for  fome  minutes  expofed  to  it. 

PART  I.  X 


154  BOTANIC  GARDEN".  PART!. 


NOTE  XL— STEAM-ENGINE. 

^uick  moves  the  balanced  beam  of  giant-birth, 

Wields  his  large  limbs,  and,  nodding,  Jhakcs  the  earth.          CANTO  I.   1.  j6l. 

THE  expanfive  force  of  fteam.  was  known  in  fome  degree  to  the  ancients. 
Ilero,  of  Alexandria,  defcribes  an  application  of  it  to  produce  a  rotative  mo- 
tion by  the  re-action  of  fteam  iffuing  from  a  fphere  mounted  upon  an  axis, 
through  two  fmall  tubes  bent  into  tangents,  and  iffuing  from  the  oppofite 
fides  of  the  equatorial  diameter  of  the  fphere;  the  fphere  was  fupplied  with 
fteam  by  a  pipe  communicating  with  a  pan  of  boiling  water,  and  entering 
the  fphere  at  one  of  its  poles. 

A  French  writer,  about  the  year  1630,  defcribes  a  method  of  raifing  wa- 
ter to  the  upper  part  of  a  houfe,  by  filling  a  chamber  with  fteam,  and  fuf- 
fering  it  to  condcnfe  of  itfelf ;  but  it  feems  to  have  been  mere  theory,  as 
his  method  was  fcarcely  practible  as  he  defcribes  it.     In  1655,  the  Marquis 
of  Worcefter  mentions  a  method  of  raifing  water  by  fire,  in  his  Century  of 
Inventions,  but  he  feems  only  to  have  availed  himfelf  of  the  expanfive  force, 
and  not  to  have  known  the  advantages  arifing  from  condenfing  the  fteam 
by  an  injection  of  cold  water.    This  latter  and  moft  important  improvement 
feems  to  have  been  made  by  Capt.  Savery,  fome  time  prior  to  1698,  for  in 
that  year  his  patent  for  the  ufe  of  that  invention  was  confirmed  by  act  of 
parliament.     This  gentleman  appears  to  have  been  the  firft  who  reduced ' 
the  machine  to  practice,  and  exhibited  it  in  an  ufeful  form.     This  method 
eonfifted  only  in  expelling  the  air  from   a  velfel  by  fteam,  and  condenfing 
the  fteam  by  an  injection  of  cold  water,  which  making  a  vacuum,  the  pref- 
fure  of  the  atmofphere  forced  the  water  to  afcend  into  the  fteam- veffel  through 
a  pipe  of  24  to  26  feet  high,  and  by  the  admifllon  of  denfe  fteam  from  the 
boiler,  forcing  the  water  in  the  fteam-velfel  to  afcend  to  the  height  defired. 
This  conftruction  was  defective,  becuufe  it  required  very  ftrong  velfels  to  re- 
fifc  the  force  of  the  fteam,  and  becaufe  an  enormous  quantity  of  fteam  was 
condenfed  by  coming  in  contact  with  the  cold  water  in  the  fteam-veffel. 

About,  or  foon  after  that  time,  M.  Papin  attempted  a  fteam-engine  on 
fimilar  principles,  but  rather  more  defective  in  its  conftruction. 

The  next  improvement  was  made  very  foon  afterwards  by  Meffrs.  New- 
comcn  and  Cawley,  of  Dartmouth;  it  eonfifted  in  employing  for  the  fteam- 
veffel  a  hollow  cylinder,  fhut  at  bottom  and  open  at  top,  furnifhed  with  a 
pifton  fliding  eafily  up  and  down  in  it,  and  made  tight  by  oakum  or  hemp, 
and  covered  with  water.  This  pifton  is  fufpended  by  chains  from  one  end 
of  a  beam,  moveable  upon  an  axis  in  the  middle  of  its  length;  to  the  other 
end  of  this  beam  are  fufpended  the  pump-rods. 

The  danger  of  burfting  the  veifels  was  avoided  in  this  machine;  as  how- 
ever high  the  water  was  to  be  raifed,  it  was  not  neceffary  to  increafe  the 
denfity  of  the  fteam,  but  only  to  enlarge  the  diameter  of  the  cylinder. 

Another  advantage  was,  that  the  cylinder,  not  being  made  fo  cold  as  ia 


NOTE  XL  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  i^ 

Savery's  method,  much  lefs  fteam  was  loft  in  filling  it  after  each  con- 
denfation. 

The  machine,  however,  ftill  remained  imperfect,  for  the  cold  water 
thrown  into  the  cylinder  acquired  heat  from  the  fteam  it  condenfcd,  and 
being  in  a  vetfel  exhaufted  of  air,  it  produced  fteam  itfelf,  which,  in  part, 
refilled  the  action  of  the  atmofphere  on  the  pifton ;  were  this  remedied  by 
throwing  in  more  cold  water,  the  deftruction  of  fteam  in  the  next  filling  of 
the  cylinder  would  be  proportionally  increafed.  It  has  therefore,  in  prac- 
tice, been  found  advifeable  not  to  load  thefe  engines  with  columns  of  water 
weighing  more  than  feven  pounds  for  each  fquare  inch  of  the  area  of  the 
pifton.  The  bulk  of  water,  when  converted  into  fteam,  remained  unknown, 
until  Mr.  J.  Watt,  then  of  Glafgow,  in  1764,  determined  it  to  be  about 
1800  times  more  rare  than  water.  It  foon  occurred  to  Mr.  Watt,  that  a 
perfect  engine  would  be  that  in  which  no  fteam  ihould  be  condenfed  in  fil- 
ling the  cylinder,  and  in  which  the  fteam  fhould  be  fo  perfectly  cooled  as 
to  produce  nearly  a  perfect  vacuum. 

Mr.  Watt  having  afcertained  the  degree  of  heat  in  which  water  boiled 
in  vacuo,  and  under  progreflive  degrees  of  preffure,  and  inftructed  by  Dr. 
Black's  difcovery  of  latent  heat,  having  calculated  the  quantity  of  cold  water 
necefiary  to  condenfe  certain  quantities  of  fteam  fo  far  as  to  produce  the 
exhauftion  required,  he  made  a  communication  from  the  cylinder  to  a  cold 
vefiel  previoufly  exhaufted  of  air  and  water,  into  which  the  fteam  rufhed, 
by  its  elafticity,  and  became  immediately  condenfed.  He  then  adapted  a 
cover  to  the  cylinder,  and  admitted  fteam  above  the  pifton  to  prefs  it  down 
inftead  of  air,  and  inftead  of  applying  water,  he  ufed  oil  or  greafe  to  fill  the 
pores  of  the  oakum,  and  to  lubricate  the  cylinder. 

He  next  applied  a  pump  td  extract  the  injection  water,  the  condenfed 
fteam,  and  the  air,  from  the  condenfing  veflel,  every  ftroke  of  the  engine. 

To  prevent  the  cooling  of  the  cylinder  by  the  contact  of  the  external  air, 
he  furrounded  it  with  a  cafe  containing  fteam,  which  he  again  protected  by 
a  covering  of  matters  which  conduct  heat  flowly. 

This  conftruction  prefented  an  eafy  means  of  regulating  the  power  of  the 
engine,  for  the  fteam  being  the  acting  power,  as  the  pipe  which  admits  it 
from  the  boiler  is  more  or  lefs  opened,  a  greater  or  fmaller  quantity  can 
enter  during  the  time  of  a  ftroke,  and,  confequently,  the  engine  can  act  with 
exactly  the  neceffary  degree  of  energy. 

Mr.  Watt  gained  a  patent  for  his  engine  in  1768,  but  the  further  profe- 
cution  of  his  defigns  was  delayed  by  other  avocations  till  1775,  when,  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Boulton,  of  Soho,  near  Birmingham,  numerous  expe- 
riments were  made,  on  a  large  fcale,  by  their  united  ingenuity,  and  great 
improvements  added  to  the  machinery,  and  an  act  of  parliament  obtained 
for  the  prolongation  of  their  patent  for  twenty-five  years ;  they  have,  fince 
that  time,  drained  many  of  the  deep  mines  in  Cornwall,  which,  but  for  the 
happy  union  of  fuch  genius,  muft  immediately  have  ceafed  to  work.  One 
of  thefe  engines  works  a  pump  of  eighteen  inches  diameter,  and  upwards  of 
loo  fathom,  or  600  feet  high,  at  the  rate  of  ten  to  twelve  ftrokes,  of  feven 
feet  long  each,  in  a  minute,  and  that  with  one  fifth  part  of  the  coals  which 


*$6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

a  common  engine  would  have  taken  to  do  the  fame  work.  The  power  of 
this  engine  may  be  cafier  comprehended  by  faying,  that  it  raifed  a  weight 
equal  to  81,000  pounds,  80  feet  high,  in  a  minute,  which  is  equal  to  the 
combined  aclion  of  aoo  good  hovrfes.  In  Newcomen's  engine  this  would 
have  required  a  cylinder  of  the  enornious  diameter  of  120  inches,  or  ten 
feet;  but  as  in  this  engine  of  Mr.  Watt  and  Mr-  Boulton  the  fleam  a&s, 
and  a  vacuum  is  made,  alternately  above  and  below  the  pifton,  the  power 
exerted  is  double  to  what  the  fame  cylinder  would  otherways  produce,  and 
is  further  augmented  by  an  inequality  in  the  length  of  the  two  ends  of  the 
lever. 

Thefe  gentlemen  have  alfo,  by  other  contrivances,  applied  their  engines 
to  the  turning  of  mills  for  almolt  every  purpofe,  of  which  that  great  pile  of 
machinery,  the  Albion  Mill,  is  a  well  known  inftance.  Forges,  flitting 
mills,  and  other  great  works,  are  eredcd  where  nature  has  furnifhed  no 
running  water,  and  future  times  may  boaft  that  this  grand  and  ufeful  engine 
•was  invented  and  perfected  in  our  own  country. 

Since  the  above  article  went  to  the  prefs,  the  Albion  Mill  is  no  more;  it 
is  fuppofed  to  have  been  fet  on  fire  by  interefted  or 'malicious  incendiaries, 
and  is  burnt  to  the  ground.  Whence  London  has  loft  the  credit  and  the 
advantage  of  polTefling  the  moft  powerful  machine  in  the  world. 


NOTE  XII.— FROST. 

In  phalanx  firm,  tie  Fiend  of  Frojl  n/ail.  CANTO  I.  1.  439. 

THE  caufe  of  the  expanfion  of  water  during  its  converfion  into  ice,  is 
Jiot  yet  well  afcertained;  it  was  fuppofed  to  have  been  owing  to  the  air  being 
fct  at  liberty  in  the  a6t  of  congelation,  which  was  before  dilTolved  in  the 
Nvater,  and  the  many  air  bubbles  in  ice  were  thought  to  countenance  this 
opinion.  But  the  great  force  with  which  ice  expands  during  its  congelation, 
foas  to  burft  iron  bombs  and  coehorns,  according  to  the  experiments  of  Major 
Williams,  at  Quebec,  invalidates  this  idea  of  the  caufe  of  it,  and  may  fome 
time  be  brought  into  ufe  as  a  means  of  breaking  rocks  in  mining,  or  pro- 
jetting  cannon-balls,  or  for  other  mechanical  purpofes,  if  the  means  of  pro- 
ducing congelation  fnould  ever  be  difcovered  to  be  as  eafy  as  the  means  of 
producing  combuftion. 

Mr.  de  Mairan  attributes  the  increafe  of  bulk  of  frozen  water  to  the  dif- 
ferent arrangement  of  the  particles  of  it  in  cryftallization,  as  they  are  con- 
ilantly  joined  at  an  angle  of  60  degrees,  and  muft,  by  this  difpofition,  he 
thinks,  occupy  a  greater  volume  than  if  they  were  parallel.  He  found  the 
augmentation  of  the  water,  during  freezing,  to  amount  to  one-fourteenth, 
one-eighteenth,  one-nineteenth,  and  when  the  water  was  previoufly  purged 
of  air,  to  only  one-twenty-fecond  part.  He  adds,  that  a  piece  of  ice,  which 
was  at  firft  only  one-fourteenth  part  fpecifically  lighter  than  water,  on  being 
cxpofed  fome  days  to  the  frcil,  became  one-twelfth  lighter  than  water.  Hence 


NOTE  XII.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  157 

he  thinks  ice,  by  being  expofed  to  greater  cold,  ftill  increafes  in  volume,  and 
to  this  attributes  the  bur  fling  of  ice  in  ponds,  and  on  the  glaciers.  See 
Lewis's  Commerce  of  Arts,  p.  257,  and  the  note  on  Mufchus,  in  the  fecond 
part  of  this  work. 

This  expanfion  of  ice  well  accounts  for  the  greater  mifchief  done  by  ver- 
nal frofts  attended  with  moifture  (as  by  hoar  frofts),  than  by  the  dry  frofts, 
called  black  frofts.  Mr.  Lawrence,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Bradley,  complains 
that  the  dale-mill:,  attended  with  a  froft,  on  May-day,  had  deftroyed  all 
his  tender  fruits;  though  there  was  a  fharper  froft  the  night  before,  without 
a  mift,  that  did  him  no  injury;  and  adds,  that  a  garden  not  a  ftone's  throw 
from  his  own,  on  a  higher  fituation,  being  above  the  dale-mift,  had  re- 
ceived no  damage.  Bradley,  vol.  II.  p.  231. 

Mr.  Hunter,  by  very  curious  experiments,  difcovered  that  the  living 
principle  in  fifh,  in  vegetables,  and  even  in  eggs  and  feeds,  pofleffes  a  power 
of  refitting  congelation.  Phil.Tranf.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the 
exertions  of  animals  to  avoid  the  pain  of  cold,  may  produce  in  them  a 
greater  quantity  of  heat,  at  leaft  for  a  time ;  but  that  vegetables,  eggs,  or 
feeds,  fhould  poffefs  fuch  a  quality,  is  truly  wonderful.  Others  have  ima- 
gined that  animals  poflefs  a  power  of  preventing  themfelves  from  becoming 
much  warmer  than  98  degrees  of  heat,  when  immerfed  in  an  atmofphere 
above  that  degree  of  heat.  It  is  true  that  the  increafed  exhalation  from 
their  bodies  will,  in  fome  meafure,  cool  them,  as  much  heat  is  carried  off 
by  the  evaporation  of  fluids;  but  this  is  a  chemical,  not  an  animal  procefs. 
The  experiments  made  by  thofe  who  continued  many  minutes  in  the  air  of 
a  room  heated  fo  much  above  any  natural  atmofpheric  heat,  do  not  feem 
conclufive,  as  they  remained  in  it  a  lefs  time  than  would  have  been  necef-^ 
fary  to  have  heated  a  mafs  of  beef  of  the  fame  magnitude;  and  the  circula- 
tion of  the  blood  in  living  animals,  by  perpetually  bringing  new  fupplies  of 
fluid  to  the  fkin,  would  prevent  the  external  furface  from  becoming  hot 
much  fooncr  than  the  whole  mafs.  And,  thirdly,  there  appears  no  power 
of  animal  bodies  to  produce  cold  in  difeafes,  as  in  fcarlet  fever,  in  which 
the  increafed  action  of  the  veffels  of  the  fkin  produces  heat,  and  contributes 
fco  exhauft  the  animal  power  already  to  much  weakened. 

It  has  been  thought  by  many  that  frofts  meliorate  the  ground,  and  that 
they  are  in  general  falubrious  to  mankind.  In  refpecl;  to  the  former,  it  is 
now  well  known  that  ice  or  fnow  contains  no  nitrous  particles,  and  though 
froft,  by  enlarging  the  bulk  of  moift  clay,  leaves  it  fofter  for  a  time  after  the 
thaw,  yet  as  foon  as  the  water  exhales,  the  clay  becomes  as  hard  as  before, 
being  prefied  together  by  the  incumbent  atmofphere,  and  by  its  felf-attrac^ 
tion,  called  fetting  by  the  potters.  Add  to  this,  that  on  the  coafts  of  Africa, 
where  froft  is  unknown,  the  fertility  of  the  foil  is  almoft  beyond  our  con- 
ceptions of  it.  In  refped:  to  the  general  falubrity  of  frofty  feafons,  the  bills 
of  mortality  are  an  evidence  in  the  negative,  as  in  long  frofts  many  weakly 
and  old  people  perifh  from  debility  occafioned  by  the  cold,  and  many  dalles 
of  birds,  and  other  wild  animals,  are  benumbed  by  the  cold,  or  deftroyed  by 
the  confequent  fcarcity  of  food,  and  many  tender  vegetables  periili  from  the 
degree  of  cold, 


i$%  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

I  do  not  think  it  fliottld  be  objected  to  this  doctrine,  that  there  are  nioift 
days,  attended  with  a  brifk  cold  wind,  when  no  vifible  ice  appears,  and 
which  are  yet  more  difagreeable  and  deitructive  than  frofty  weather.  For 
on  thefe  days  the  cold  moifture  which  is  depofited  on  the  ikin  is  there  eva- 
porated, and  thus  produces  a  degree  of  cold  perhaps  greater  than  the  milder 
frofts.  Whence,  even  in  fuch  days,  both  the  difagreeable  fenfations  and  in- 
falubrious  effects  belong  to  the  caufe  above-mentioned,  viz.  the  intcnfity  of 
the  cold.  Add  to  this,  that  in  thefe  cold  moift  days,  as  we  pafs  along,  or 
as  the  wind  blows  upon  us,  a  new  fheet  of  cold  water  is,  as  it  were,  per- 
petually applied  to  us,  and  hangs  upon  our  bodies.  Now,  as  water  is  800 
times  denfer  than  air,  and  is  a  much  better  conductor  of  heat,  we  are 
flarved  with  cold,  like  thofe  who  go  into  a  cold  bath,  both  (by  the  great 
number  of  particles  in  contact  with  the  fkin,  and  their  great  facility  of  re- 
ceiving our  heat. 

It  may  neverthelefs  be  true,  that  fnows  of  long  duration,  in  our  winters, 
may  be  lefs  injurious  to  vegetation  than  great  rains  and  Ihorter  frofts,  for 
two  reafons.  i.  Becaufe  great  rains  carry  down  many  thoufand  pounds 
worth  of  the  befl  part  of  the  manure  off  the  lands  into  the  fea,  whereas 
fnow  diffolvcs  more  gradually,  and  thence  carries  away  lefs  from  the  land. 
Any  one  may  diftinguifh  a  fnow-flood  from  a. rain-flood  by  the  tranfparency 
of  the  water.  Hence  hills  or  fields,  with  confiderable  inclination  of  furface, 
fhould  be  ploughed  horizontally,  that  the  furrows  may  flay  the  water  from 
fhowers  till  it  depofits  its  mud.  2.  Snow  protects  vegetables  from  the  feve- 
rity  of  the  froft,  fince  it  is  always  in  a  ftate  of  thaw  where  it  is  in  contact 
\viththeearth;  as  the  earth's  heat  is  about  48  degrees,  and  the  heat  of 
thawing  fnow  is  32  degrees,  the  vegetables  between  them  are  kept  in  a  de- 
gree of  heat  about  40,  by  which  many  of  them  are  preferved.  See  note  on 
Mufchus,  part  II.  of  this  work. 


NOTE  XIII.— ELECTRICITY. 

Cold  from  each  point  cerulean  lujlres  gleam.  CANTO  I.  1.  339, 

ELECTRIC    POINTS. 

THERE  was  an  idle  difpute,  whether  knobs  or  points  were  preferable  on 
the  top  of  conductors,  for  the  defence  of  houfes.  The  defign  of  thefe  con- 
ductors is  to  permit  the  electric  matter  accumulated  in  the  clouds,  to  pafs 
through  them  into  the  earth  in  a  fmaller  continued  ftream  as  the  cloud  ap- 
proaches, before  it  comes  to  what  is  termed  ftriking  diftance.  Now,  as  it  is 
well  known  that  accumulated  electricity  will  pafs  to  points  at  a  much  greater 
diftance  than  it  will  to  knobs,  there  can  he  no  doubt  of  their  preference; 
and  it  would  feem,  that  the  finer  the  points,  and  the  lefs  liable  to  become 
rufty,  the  better,  as  it  would  take  off  the  lightning  while  it  was  full  at  a 
greater  diftance,  and  by  that  means  preferve  a  greater  extent  of  building. 


NOTE  XIII.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  159 

The  very  extremity  of  the  point  fbould  be  of  pure  filver  or  gold,  and  might 
be  branched  into  a  kind  of  brulh,  fince  one  fmall  point  cannot  be  fuppofed 
to  receive  fo  great  a  quantity  as  a  thicker  bar  might  conduct  into  the 
earth. 

If  an  infulated  metallic  ball  is  armed  with  a  point,  like  a  needle,  project- 
ing from  one  part  of  it,  the  electric  fluid  will  be  feen  in  the  dark  to  pafs  off 
from  this  point,  fo  long  as  the  ball  is  kept  fupplied  with  electricity.  The 
reafon  of  this  is  not  difficult  to  comprehend:  Every  part  of  the  elec- 
tric atmofphere  which  furrounds  the  infulated  ball,  is  attracted  to  that  ball 
by  a  large  furface  of  it,  whereas  the  electric  atmofphere  which  is  near  the 
extremity  of  the  needle,  is  attracted  to  it  only  by  a  fingle  point ;  in  confe- 
.quence,  the  particles  of  electric  matter,  near  the  furface  of  the  ball,  approach 
towards  it,  and  pufli  off,  by  their  greater  gravitation,  the  particles  of  elec- 
tric matter  over  the  point  of  the  needle,  in  a  continued  ftream. 

Something  like  this  happens  in  refpect  to  the  diffufion  of  oil  on  water 
from  a  pointed  cork,  an  experiment  which  was  many  years  ago  fhewn  me  by 
Dr.  Franklin.  He  cut  a  piece  of  cork  about  the  fize  of  a  letter-wafer,  and 
left  on  one  edge  of  it  a  point  about  a  fixth  of  an  inch  in  length,  projecting  as 
a  tangent  to  the  circumference.  This  was  dipped  in  oil,  and  thrown  on  a 
pond  of  water,  and  continued  to  revolve,  as  the  oil  left  the  point,  for  a  great 
many  minutes.  The  oil  defcends  from  the  floating  cork  upon  the  water, 
being  diifufed  upon  it  without  friction,  and  perhaps  without  contact ;  but 
its  going  off  at  the  point  fo  forcibly  as  to  make  that  cork  revolve  in  a  con- 
trary direction,  feems  analogous  to  the  departure  of  the  electric  fluid  from 
points. 

Can  any  thing  fimilar  to  either  of  thefe  happen  in  refpect  to  the  earth's 
atmofphere,  and  give  occafion  to  the  breezes  on  the  tops  of  mountains, 
which  may  be  confidered  as  points  on  the  earth's  circumference  ? 

FAIR  Y-R  INGS. 

There  is  a  phenomenon  fuppofed  to  be  electric  which  is  yet  unaccounted 
for;  I  mean  the  Fairy-rings,  as  they  are  called,  fo  often  feen  on  the  grafs. 
The  numerous  flalhes  of  lightning  which  occur  every  fumnier,  are,  I  be- 
lieve, generally  difcharged  on  the  earth,  and  but  feldom  (if  ever)  from  one 
cloud  to  another.  Moift  trees  are  the  nioft  frequent  conductors  of  thefe 
flafhes  of  lightning,  and  I  am  informed  by  purchafers  of  wood,  that  innu- 
merable trees  are  thus  cracked  and  injured.  At  other  times  larger  parts  or 
prominences  of  clouds,  gradually  finking  as  they  move  along,  are  difcharged 
on  the  moifter  parts  of  graiTy  plains.  Now,  this  knob  or  corner  of  a  cloud, 
in  being  attracted  by  the  earth,  will  become  nearly  cylindrical,  as  loofe  wool 
would  do  when  drawn  out  into  a  thread,  and  will  ftrike  the  earth  with  a 
ftream  of  electricity,  perhaps  two  or  ten  yards  in  diameter.  Now,  as  a 
ftream  of  electricity  difplaces  the  air  it  paffes  through,  it  is  plain  no  part  of 
the  grafs  can  be  burnt  by  it,  but  juft  the  external  ring  of  this  cylinder,  where 
the  grafs  can  have  accefs  to  the  air,  fince  without  air  nothing  can  be  cal- 
cined. This  earth,  after  having  been  fo  calcined,  becomes  a  richer  foil,  and 


i6o  BOTANIC  GARDEN".  PART  L 

either  fungufes  or  a  bluer  grafs  for  many  years  mark  the  place.  That  light- 
ning difplaces  the  air  in  its  paffage  is  evinced  by  the  loud  crack  that  fucceeds 
it,  which  is  owing  to  the  fides  of  the  aerial  vacuum  clapping  together 
when  the  lightning  is  withdrawn.  That  nothing  will  calcine  without  air  is 
now  well  under  Hood  from  the  acids  produced  in  the  burning  of  phlogiftic 
fubflances,  and  may  be  agreeably  feen  by  fufpending  a  paper  on  an  iron 
prong,  and  putting  it  into  the  centre  of  the  blaze  of  an  iron-furnace;  it 
may  be  held  there  feme  feconds,  and  may  be  again  withdrawn  without  its 
being  burnt,  if  it  be  paffed  quickly  into  the  flame  and  out  again,  through 
the  external  part  of  it,  which  is  in  contact  with  the  air.  I  know  fon:e 
circles  of  many  yards  diameter  of  this  kind,  near  Foremark,  in  Derbyfhire, 
which  annually  produce  large  white  fungufcs,  and  flronger  grafs,  and  have 
done  fo,  I  am  informed,  above  thirty  years.  This  increafed  fertility  of  the 
ground  by  calcination  or  charring,  and  its  continuing  to  operate  fo  many 
years,  is  well  worth  the  attention  of  the  farmer,  and  Ihews  the  ufe  of  par- 
ing and  burning  new  turf  in  agriculture,  which  produces  its  effecSl  not  fo 
much  by  the  afhes  of  the  vegetable  fibres,  as  by  charring  the  foil  which  ad- 
heres to  them. 

Thefe  lituations,  whether  from  eminence  or  from  moifture,  which  were 
proper  once  to  attract  and  difcharge  a  thunder-cloud,  are  more  liable  again 
to  experience  the  fame.  Hence  many  fairy-rings  are  often  feen  near  each 
other,  either  without  interfering  each  other,  as  I  faw  this  fummer  in  a  gar- 
den in  Nottinghamfhire,  or  interfering  each  other,  as  defcribed  on  Arthur's 
feat,  near  Edinburgh,  in  the  Edinb.  Tranf.  vol.  II.  p.  3. 


NOTE  XIV.— BUDS  AND  BtfLBS. 

JVLcre  divell  my  vegetative  realms  Lcnumfrd, 

In  buds  imprifond^  or  in  bulbs  intomb'd.  CANTO  I.   1.  459. 

A  TREE  is,  properly  fpeaking,  a  family  or  fwarm  of  buds,  each  bud  be- 
ing an  individual  plant ;  for  if  one  of  thefe  buds  be  torn  or  cut  out,  and 
planted  in  the  earth,  with  a  glafs  cup  inverted  over  it,  to  prevent  its  exha- 
lation from  being  at  firft  greater  than  its  power  of  abforption,  it  will  pro- 
duce a  tree  fimilar  to  its  parent ;  each  bud  has  a  leaf,  which  is  its  lungs,  ap- 
propriated to  it,  and  the  bark  of  the  tree  is  a  congeries  of  the  roots  of  thefe 
individual  buds;  whence  old  hollow  trees  are  often  feen  to  have  fome 
branches  flourifh  with  vigour  after  the  internal  wood  is  almoft  entirely  de- 
cayed and  vaniflied.  According  to  this  idea,  Linnreus  has  obferved,  that 
trees  and  flirubs  are  roots  above  ground,  for  if  a  tree  be  inverted,  leaves 
will  grow  from  the  rootrpart,  and  roots  from  the  trunk-part.  Phil.  Bot. 
p.  39.  Hence  it  appears  that  vegetables  have  two  methods  of  propagating 
themfelves,  the  oviparous  as  by  feeds,  and  the  viviparous  as  by  their  buds 
and  bulbs ;  and  that  the  individual  plants,  whether  from  feeds,  or  buds,  or 
bulbs,  are  all  annual  productions,,  like  many  kinds  of  inft'&s,  as  the  iiijk-worm , 


NOTE  XIV.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  161 

the  parent  perilling  in  the  autumn  after  having  produced  an  cmbryon, 
which  lies  in  a  torpid  ftate  during  the  winter,  and  is  matured  in  the  fuc- 
ceeding  fummcr.  Hence  Linnaeus  names  buds  and  bulbs  the  winter  cra- 
dles of  the  plant,  or  hybernacula,  and  might  have  given  the  fame  term  to 
feeds.  In  warm  climates  few  plants  produce  buds,  as  the  vegetable  life  can 
be  completed  in  one  fummer,  and  hence  the  hybernacle  is  not  wanted ;  in 
cold  climates  alfo  fome  plants  do  not  produce  buds,  as  philadelphus,  fran- 
,gula,  viburnum,  ivy,  heath,  wood-nightfhade,  rue,  geranium. 

The  bulbs  of  plants  are  another  kind  of  winter  cradle,  or  hybernacle,  ad- 
hering to  the  defcending  trunk,  and  are  found  in  the'  perennial  herbaceous 
plants,  which  are  too  tender  to  bear  the  cold  of  the  winter.  The  produc- 
tion of  thefe  fubterraneous  winter  lodges,  is  not  yet,  perhaps,  clearly  under- 
ilood;  they  have  been  diftributed  by  Linnjeus,  according  to  their  forms,  into 
f,caly,  folid,  coated,  and  jointed  bulbs,  which,  however,  does  not  elucidate 
their  manner  of  production.  As  the  buds  of  trees  may -be  truly  efteemed, 
individual  annual  plants,  their  roots  conftituting  the  bark  of  the  trees,  it 
follows,  that  thefe  roots  (viz.  of  each  individual  bud)  fpread  themfelves 
over  the  laft  year's  bark,  making  a  new  bark  over  the  old  one,  and  thence 
defcending,  cover  with  a  new  bark  the  old  roots  alfo  in  the  fame  manner, 
A  fimilar  circumftance  I  fuppofe  to  happen  in  fome  herbaceous  plants,  that 
is,  a  new  bark  is  annually  produced  over  the  old  root,  and  thus,  for  fome 
years  at  leaft,  the  old  root  or  caudex  increafes  in  fize,  and  puts  up  new  flems. 
As  thefe  roots  increafe  in  fize,  the  central  part,  I  fuppofe,  changes  like  the 
internal  wood  of  a  tree,  and  does  not  poflefs  any  vegetable  life,  and  there- 
fore gives  out  no  fibres  or  rootlets,  and  hence  appears  bitten  off,  as  in  vale- 
rian,  plantain,  and  devil's-bit.  And  this  decay  of  the  central  part  of  the 
root,  I  fuppofe,  has  given  occafion  to  the  belief  of  the  root-fibres  drawing 
down  the  bulb,  fo  much  infilled  on  by  Mr.  Milne,  in  his  Botanical  Dic- 
tionary, art.  Bulb. 

From  the  obfervations  and  drawings  of  various  kinds,  of  bulbous  roots, 
at  different  times  of  their  growth,  fent  me  by  a  young  lady  of  nice  obferva- 
tion,  it  appears  probable  that  all  bulbous  roots,  properly  fo  called,  perifh 
annually  in  this  climate.  Bradley,  Miller,  and  the  author  of  Spectacle  de  la 
Nature,  obferve  that  the  tulip  annually  renews  its  bulb,  for  the  ftalk  of  the 
old  flower  is  found  under  the  old  dry  coat,  but  on  the  out  fide  of  the  new 
bulb.  This  large  new  bulb  is  the  flowering  bulb;  but  befides  this  there 
are  other  fmall  new  bulbs  produced  between  the  coats  of  this  large  one,  but 
from  the  fame  caudex  (or  circle  from  which  the  root-fibres  fpring);  thefe 
fmall  bulbs  are  leaf-bearing  bulbs,  and  renew  themfelves  annually,  with  in* 
creafmg  fize,  till  they  bear  flowers. 

Mifs favoured  me  with  the  following  curious  experiment:   Shs 

took  a  fmall  tulip-root  out  of  the  earth  when  the  green  leaves  were  fuffU 
ciently  high  to  fhow  the  flower,  and  placed  it  in  a  glafs  of  water  ;  the  leaves 
and  flower  foon  withered,  and  the  bulb  became  wrinkled  and  foft,  but  put 
out  one  fmall  fide  bulb,  and  three  bulbs  beneath,  defcending  an  inch  into 
the  water  by  proceffes  from  the  caudex ;  the  old  bulb  in  fome  weeks  entirely 
decayed.  On  differing  this  monfter,  the  middle  defcending  btjlb,  was  found, 

PART  L,  Y 


i64  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

by  its  procefs,  to  adhere  to  the  caudex,  and  to  the  old  flowcr-ftem;  and  the 
fide  ones  were  feparated  from  the  flower-ftem  by  a  few  fhrivelled  coats, 
but  adhered  to  the  caudex.  Whence  file  concludes  that  thefe  laft  were  off- 
fets,  or  leaf-bulbs,  which  fhould  have  been  feen  between  the  coats  of  the 
new  flower-bulb,  if  it  had  been  left  to  grow  in  the  earth,  and  that  the  mid- 
dle one  would  have  been  the  new  flower-bulb*  In  fome  years  (perhaps  in 
wet  feafons)  the  florifrs  are  faid  to  lofe  many  of  their  tulip-roots  by  a  fimi- 
lar  procefs,  the  new  leaf-bulbs  being  produced  beneath  the  old  ones  by  an 
elongation  of  the  caudex,  without  any  new  flower-bulbs. 

By  repeated  diffe&ions,  flie  obferves,  that  the  leaf-bulbs,  or  off-fets  of 
tulip,  crocus,  gladiolus,  fritillary,  are  renewed  in  the  fame  manner  as  the 
flowering-bulbs,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  many  writers ;  this  new  leaf- 
bulb  is  formed  on  the  infide  of  the  coats  from  whence  the  leaves  grow,  and 
is  more  or  lefs  advanced  in  fize  as  the  outer  coats  and  leaves  are  more  or  lefs 
Ihrivelled.  In  examining  tulip,  i  ris,  hyacinth,  hare-bell,  the  new  bulb  was 
invariably  found  between  the  flower-ftem  and  the  bafe  of  the  innermoft  leaf 
of  thofe  roots  which  had  flowered,  and  iticlofed  by  the  bafe  of  the  innermoft  leaf 
in  thofe  roots  which  had  not  flowered,  in  both  cafes  adhering  to  the  cau- 
dex or  flelhy  circle  from  which  the  root-fibres  fpring. 

Hence  it  is  probable  that  the  bulbs  'of  hyacinths  are  renewed  annually, 
but  that  this  is  performed  from  the  caudex  within  the  old  bulb,  the  outer 
coat  of  which  does  not  fo  ftirivel  as  in  crocus  and  fritillary,  and  hence  this 
change  is  not  fo  apparent.  But,  I  believe,  as  foon  as  the  flower  is  advanced, 
the  new  bulbs  may  be  feen  on  difledlion ;  nor  does  the  annual  increafe  of 
the  fize  of  the  root  of  cyclamen,  and  of  aktris  capenfis,  militate  againft  this 
annual  renewal  of  them,  lince  the  leaf-bulbs,  or  off-fets,  as  defcribed  above, 
are  increafed  in  fize  as  they  are  annually  renewed.  See  note  on  Orchis,  and 
on  Anthoxanthum,  in  Part  II.  of  this  work. 


.    NOTE  XV.— SOLAR  VOLCANOS. 

From  tie  deep  iraters  of  bis  realms  ofjlre 

The  whirling  Sun  this  ponderous  planet  hurfd.  CANTO  II.  1  14. 

DR.  ALEXANDER  WILSON,  Profeffor  of  Aftronomy  at  Glafgow, 
publifhed  a  paper  in  the  Philofophical  Tranfactions  for  1774,  demonftrating 
that  the  fpots  in  the  fun's  difk  are  real  cavities,  excavations  through  the  lu- 
minous material,  which  covers  the  other  parts  of  the  fun's  furface.  One  of 
thefe  cavities  he  round  to  be  about  4000  miles  deep,  and  many  times  as 
wide.  Some  objections  were  made  to  this  doctrine  by  M.  De  la  Lande,  in 
the  Memoirs  of  the  French  Academy  for  the  year  1776,  which,  however, 
have  been  ably  anfwered  by  profeffor  Wiifon  in  reply,  in  the  Philof.  Tranf. 
for  1783.  Keil  obferves,  in  his  Aftronomical  Lectures,  p.  44,  "  We  fre- 
quently fee  fpots  in  the  fun  which  are  larger  and  broader  not  only  than  Eu- 
rope or  Africa,  but  which  even  equal,  if  they  do  not  exceed,  the  furface  of 


NOTE  XV.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  163 

the  whole  terraqueous  globe."  Now  that  thefe  cavities  are  made  in  the  fun's 
body  by  a  procefs  of  nature  fimilar  to  our  earthquakes,  does  not  feem  impror 
bable  on  feveral  accounts,  i.  Becaufe,  from  this  difcovery  of  Dr.  Wilfon,  it 
appears  that  the  internal  parts  of  the  fun  are  not  in  a  ftate  of  inflammation  or  of 
ejecting  light,  like  the  external  part  or  luminous  ocean  which  covers  it;  and 
hence  that  a  greater  degree  of  heat  or  inflammation,  and  confequent  expan- 
fion  or  explofion,  may  occafionally  be  produced  in  its  internal  or  dark  nucleus. 
2.  Becaufe  the  folar  fpots  or  cavities  are  frequently  increafed  or  diminifhed 
in  iize.  3.  New  ones  are  often  produced.  4.  And  old  ones  vanifh.  5.  Be- 
caufe  there  are  brighter  or  more  luminous  parts  of  the  fun's  dilk,  called  fa- 
culx  by  Scheiner  and  Hevelius,  which  would  feem  to  be  volcanos  in  the  fun, 
or,  as  Dr.  Wilfon  calls  them,  "  eructations  of  matter  more  luminous  than 
that  which  covers  the  fun's  furface."  6.  To  which  may  be  added  that  all 
the  planets  added  together,  with  their  fatellites,  do  not  amount  to  more  than 
one  fix  hundred  and  fiftieth  part  of  the  mafs  of  the  fun,  according  to  Sir  Ifaac 
Newton. 

Now,  if  it  could  be  fuppofed  that  the  planets  were  originally  thrown  out 
of  the  fun  by  larger  fun-quakes  than  thofe  frequent  ones  which  occafion 
thcfe  fpots  or  excavations  above-mentioned,  what  would  happen  ?  I.  Accord- 
ing to  the*  obfervations  and  opinion  of  Mr.  Herfchel,  the  fun  itfelf  and  all 
its  planets  are  moving  forwards  round  fome  other  centre  with  an  unknown 
velocity,  which  may  be  of  opake  matter,  correfponding  with  the  very  ancient 
and  general  idea  of  a  chaos.  Whence,  if  a  ponderous  planet,  as  Saturn,  could 
be  fuppofed  to  be  projected  from  the  fun  by  an  explofion,  the  motion  of  the 
fun  itfelf  might  be  at  the  fame  time  difturbed  in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  prevent 
the  planet  from  falling  again  into  it.  3.  As  the  fun  revolves  round  its  own 
axis,  its  form  muft  be  that  of  an  oblate  fpheroid  like  the  earth,  and  therefore 
a  body  prejeded  from  its  furface  perpendicularly  upwards  from  that  furface 
would  not  rife  perpendicularly  from  the  fun's  centre,  unlefs  it  happened  to 
he  projected  exactly  from  either  of  its  poles  or  from  its  equator.  Whence  it 
may  not  be  neceffary  that  a  planet,  if  thus  projected  from  the  fun  by  explofion, 
fhould  again  fall  into  the  fun.  3.  They  would  part  from  the  fun's  furface 
with  the  velocity  with  which  that  furface  was  moving,  and  with  the  velocity 
acquired  by  the  explofion,  and  would  therefore  move  round  the  fun  in  the 
fame  direction  in  which  the  fun  rotates  on  its  axis,  and  perform  eliptic  or- 
bits. 4.  All  the  planets  would  move  the  fame  way  round  the  fun,  from  this 
firft  motion  acquired  at  leaving  its  furface,  but  their  orbits  would  be  inclined 
to  each  other  according  to  the  diilance  of  the  part,  where  they  were  thrown 
out,  IVom  the  fun's  equator.  Hence  thofe  which  were  ejected  near  the  fun's 
equator  would  have  orbits  but  little  inclined  to  each  other,  as  the  primary  pla- 
nets; the  plain  of  all  whofe  orbits  are  inclined  but  feven  degrees  and  a  half  from 
each  other.  Others  which  were  ejected  near  the  fun's  poles  would  have  much 
more  eccentric  orbits,  as  they  would  partake  fo  much  lefs  of  the  fun's  rotatory- 
motion  at  the  time  they  parted  from  his  furface,  and  would,  therefore,  be  carried 
further  from  the  fun  by  the  velocity  they  had  gained  by  the  explofion  which 
ejected  them,  and  become  comets.  5.  They  would  all  obey  the  fame  laws  of 
motion  in  their  revolutions  round  t  he  fun ;  this  has  been  determined  by  aftro- 


164  BOTANIC  GARDEN"..  PART!. 

homers,  who  have  demon  ft  rated  that  they  move  through  equal  areas,  in  equal 
times.  6.  As  their  annual  periods  would  depend  on  the  height  they  rofe  by 
the  explofion,  thefe  would  differ  in  them  all.  7.  As  their  diurnal  revolu- 
tions would  depend  on  one  fide  of  the  exploded  matter  adhering  more  than 
the  other  at  the  time  it  was  torn  off  by  the  explofion,  thefe  would  alfo  differ 
in  the  different  planets,  and  not  bear  any  proportion  to  their  annual  periods. 
Now,  as  all  thefe  circumftances  coincide  with  the  known  laws  of  the  plane- 
tary fyftem,  they  ferve  to  ftrenghten  this  conjecture. 

This  coincidence  of  fuch  a  variety  of  circtimftances  induced  M.  de  Buffon 
to  fuppofe  that  the  planets  were  all  flruck  off  from  the  fun's  ftlrface  by  the 
impucl  of  a  large  comet,  fuch  as  approached  fo  near  the  fun's  difk,  and 
with  fuch  amazing  velocity,  in  the  year  1680,  and  is  expected  to  return 
in  2155.  But  Mr.  Buffort  did  not  recollecl:  that  thefe  comets  themfelves 
are  only  planets  with  more  eccentric  orbits,  and  that  therefore  it  muft  be 
aflced,  what  had  previoufly  ftruck  off  thefe  comets  from  the  fun's  body  ?  2. 
That  if  all  thefe  planets  were  ftruck  off  from  the  fun  at  the  fame  time,  they 
muft  have  been  fo  near  as  to  have  attracted  each  other  and  have  formed  one 
mafs.  3.  That  we  fhall  want  new  caufes  for  ieparating  the  fecondary  planets 
from  the  primary  ones,  and  muft  therefore  look  out  for  fome  other  agent,  as 
it  does  not  appear  how  the  impulfe  of  a  comet  could  have  made  one  planet 
roll  round  another  at  the  time  they  both  of  them  were  driven  off  from  the 
furface  of  the  fun. 

If  it  fhould  be  afked,  why  new  planets  are  not  frequently  ejected  from 
the  fun  ?  it  may  be  anfvvered,  that  after  many  large  earthquakes  many  vents 
are  left  for  the  elaftic  vapours  to  efcape,  and  hence,  by  the  prefent  appear- 
ance of  the  furface  of  our  earth,  earthquakes,  prodigioufly  larger  than  any 
recorded  in  hiftory,  have  exifted  ;  the  fame  circumftances  may  have  affected 
the  fun,  on  whofe  furface  there  are  appearances  of  volcanos,  as  defcribed 
above.  Add  to  this,  that  fome  of  the  comets,  and  even  the  georgium  fidus, 
may,  for  aught  we  know  to  the  contrary,  have  been  emitted  from  the  fun 
in  more  modern  days,  and  have  been  diverted  from  their  courfe,  and  thus  per- 
vented  from  returning  into  the  fun,  by  their  approach  to  fome  of  the  older 
planets,  which  is  fomewhat  countenanced  by  the  opinion  feveral  philofophers 
have  maintained,  that  the  quantity  of  matter  of  the  fun  has  decreafed.  Dr. 
Halley  obferved,  by  comparing  the  proportion  which  the  periodical  time 
of  the  moon  bore  to  that  of  the  fun  in  former  times,  with  the  proportion  be- 
tween them  at  prefent,  that  the  moon  is  found  to  be  fomewhat  accelerated 
in  refpecl;  to  the  fun.  Pemberton's  View  of  Sir  Ifaac  Newton,  p.  247.  And 
fo  large  is  the  body  of  this  mighty  luminary,  that  all  the  planets  thus  thrown 
out  of  it  would  make  fcarce  any  perceptible  diminution  of  it  as  mentioned 
above.  The  cavity  mentioned  above,  as  meafured  by  Dr.  Wilfon,  of  4000 
miles  in  depth,  not  penetrating  an  hundredth  part  of  the  fun's  femi-diame- 
ter;  and  yet  as  its  width  was  many  times  greater  than  its  depth,  was  large 
enough  to  contain  a  greater  body  than  our  terreftrial  world. 

I  do  not  mean  to  conceal,  that  from  the  laws  of  gravity  unfolded  by  Sir 
Ifaac  Newton,  fuppofing  the  fun  to  be  a  fphere,  and  to  have  no  progreffive 
motion,  and  not  liable  itftlf  to  be  difturbcd  by  the  fuppofed  projection  of 


NOTE 'XVI.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  16$ 

the  planets  from  it,  that  fuch  planets  muft  return  into  the  fun.  The  late 
Rev.  William  Ludlam,  of  Leicefler,  whofe  genius  never  met  with  reward 
equal  to  its  merits,  in  a  letter  to  me,  dated  January,  1787,  after  having 
{hewn,  ^s  mentioned  above,  that  planets  fo  projected  from  the  fun  would 
return  to  it,  adds,  "  That  a  body  as  large  as  the  moon  fo  prejected,  would 
"  difturb  the  motion  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit,  is  certain;  but  the  calculation 
"  of  fuch  difturbing  forces  is  difficult.  The  body  in  fome  circumftaiices 
"  might  become  a  fatellite,  and  both  move  round  their  common  centre  of 
"  gravity,  and  that  centre  be  carried  in  an  annual  orbit  round  the  fun." 

There  are  other  circumftances  which  might  have  concurred  at  the  time  of 
fuch  fuppofed  explofions,  which  would  render  this  idea  not  impofiible.  I. 
The  planets  might  be  thrown  out  of  the  fun  at  the  time  the  fun  itfelf  was 
rifing  from  chaos,  and  be  attracted  by  other  funs  in  their  vicinity  riling  at 
the  fame  time  out  of  chaos,  which  would  prevent  them  from  returning  into 
the  fun.  z.  The  new  planet,  in  its  courfe  or  afcent  from  the  fun,  might  ex- 
plode and  eject  a  fatellite,  or  perhaps  more  than  one,  and  thus,  by  its  courfc 
being  affected,  might  not  return  into  the  fun.  3.  If  more  planets  were  ejected 
at  the  fame  time  from  the  fun,  they  might  attract  and  difturb  each  others 
courfe  at  the  time  they  left  the  body  of  the  fun,  or  very  foon  afterwards, 
when  they  would  be  foinuch  nearer  each  other. 


NOTE  XVI.— CALCAREOUS  EARTH. 

While  Ocean  ivrap'd  it  in  his  azure  robe*  CANTO  II.  1.  34. 

FROM  having  obferved  that  many  of  the  higheft  mountains  of  the  world 
eonfift  of  lime-ftone  replete  with  {hells,  and  that  thefe  mountains  bear  the 
marks  of  having  been  lifted  up  by  fubterraneous  fires  from  the  interior  parts 
of  the  globe ;  and  as  lime-ftone  replete  with  {hells  is  found  at  the  bottom  of 
many  of  our  deepeft  mines,  fome  philofophers  have  concluded  that  the  nu- 
cleus of  the  earth  was  for  many  ages  covered  with  water,  which  was  peo- 
pled with  its  adapted  animals;  that  the  {hells  and  bones  of  thefe  animals, 
in  a  long  feries  of  time,  produced  folid  ftrata  in  the  ocean  furrounding  the 
original  nucleus. 

Thefe  ftrata  eonfift  of  the  accumulated  exuvise  of  {hell-fifh — the  animals 
periftied  age  after  age,  but  their  {hells  remained,  and,  in  progreflion  of  time, 
produced  the  amazing  quantities  of  lime-ftone  which  almoft  cover  the  earth. 
Other  marine  animals,  called  coralloids,  raifed  walls,  and  even  mountains, 
by  the  congeries  of  their  calcareous  habitations;  thefe  perpendicular  coral- 
line rocks  make  fome  parts  of  the  fouthern  ocean  highly  dangerous,  as  ap- 
pears in  the  journals  of  Capt.  Cook.  From  contemplating  the  immenfe 
ftrata  of  lime-ftone,  both  in  refpect  to  their  extent  and  thicknefs,  formed 
from  thefe  {hells  of  animals,  philofophers  have  been  led  to  conclude,  that 
much  of  the  water  of  the  fea  has  been  converted  into  calcareous  earth,  by 
palling  through  their  organs  of  digeftion.  The  formation  of  calcareous  earth 


r66  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

fcems  more  particularly  to  be  an  animal  procefs,  as  the  formation  of  clay  be- 
longs to  the  vegetable  economy;  thus  the  {hells of  crabs,  and  other  teftaceous 
fifh,  are  annually  re-produced  from  the  mucous  membrane  beneath  them; 
the  fhells  of  eggs  are  firft  a  mucous  membrane,  and  the  calculi  of  the  kid- 
neys, and  thofe  found  in  all  other  parts  of  our  fyftem,  which  fometimes  con- 
tain calcareous  earth,  feem  to  originate  from  inflamed  membranes ;  the  bones 
themfelves  confift  of  calcareous  earth  united  with  the  phofphoric  or  animal 
acid,  which  may  be  feparated  by  diffolving  the  afhes  of  calcined  bones  in 
the  nitrous  acid ;  the  various  fecretions  of  animals,  as  their  faliva  and  urine, 
abound  likewife  with  calcareous  earth,  as  appears  by  the  incruftations  about 
the  teeth,  and  the  fediments  of  urine.  It  is  probable  that  animal  mucus  is 
a  previous  procefs  towards  the  formation  of  calcareous  earth;  and  that  all 
the  calcareous  earth  in  the  world,  which  is  fcen  in  lime-ftones,  marbles, 
fpars,  alabafters,  marls  (which  make  up  the  greateft  part  of  the  earth's  cruft, 
as  far  as  it  has  yet  been  penetrated),  have  been  formed  originally  by  animal 
and  vegetable  bodies  from  the  mafs  of  water,  and  that  by  thefe  means  the 
folid  part  of  the  terraqueous  globe  has  perpetually  been  in  an  increafing  Hate, 
and  the  water  perpetually  in  a  decreafmg  one. 

After  the  mountains  of  (hells,  and  other  recrements,  of  aquatic  animals, 
were  elevated  above  the  water,  the  upper  heaps  of  them  were  gradually  dif- 
folved  by  rains  and  dews,  and  oozing  through,  were  either  perfectly  cryftal- 
lized  in  fmaller  cavities,  and  formed  calcareous  fpar,  or  were  imperfectly 
cryflallized  on  the  roofs  of  larger  cavities,  and  produced  ftalactites;  or  mix- 
ing with  other  undiffolved  fhells  beneath  them,  formed  marbles,  which  were 
more  or  lefs  cryftallized  and  more  or  lefs  pure;  or,  laftly,  after  being  dif- 
folved,  the  water  was  exhaled  from  them  in  fuch  a  manner  that  the  external 
parts  became  folid,  and,  forming  an  arch,  prevented  the  internal  parts  from 
approaching  each  other  fo  near  as  to  become  folid,  and  thus  chalk  was  pro- 
duced. I  have  fpecimens  of  chalk  formed  at  the  root  of  feveral  ftalactitcs, 
and  in  their  central  parts;  and  of  other  ftalactites,  which  are  hollow  like 
quills,  from  a  fimiiar  caufe,  viz.  from  the  external  part  of  the  flalaclite  harden- 
ing firft  by  its  evaporation,  and  thus  either  attracting  the  internal  diffolved 
particles  to  the  cruft,  or  preventing  them  from  approaching  each  other  fo 
as  to  form  a  folid  body.  Of  thefe  I  faw  many  hanging  from  the  arched 
roof  of  a  cellar  under  the  high  flreet  in  Edinburgh. 

If  this  diffolved  lime-ftone  met  with,  vitriolic  acid,  it  was  converted  into 
alabafter,  parting  at  the  fame  time  with  its  fixable  air.  If  it  met  with  the 
fluor  acid,  it  became  fluor;  if  with  the  filiceous  acid,  flint;  and  when  mixed 
with  clay  and  fand,  or  either  of  them,  acquires  the  name  of  marl.  And 
under  one  or  other  of  thefe  forms,  compofes  a  great  part  of  the  folid  globe 
of  the  earth. 

Another  mode  in  which  lime-flone  appears  is  in  the  form  of  round  granu- 
lated particles,  but  flightiy  cohering  together;  of  this  kind  a  bed  extends 
over  Lincoln  heath,  perhaps  twenty  miles  long  by  ten  -wide.  The  form  of 
this  calcareous  fand,  its  angles  having  been  rubbed  off,  and  the  flntnefs  of  its 
bed,  evince  that  that  part  of  the  country  was  fo  formed  under  water,  the 
particles  of  fand  having  thu?  been  rounded,  like  all  other  rounded  pebbles. 


NOTE  XVI.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  16? 

This  round  form  of  calcareous  fand,  and  of  other  larger  pebbles,  is  produced 
under  water,  partly  by  their  being  more  or  lefs  foluble  in  water,  and  hence 
the  angular  parts  become  diffolved;  firft,  by  their  expofing  a  larger  furfacc 
to  the  adion  of  the  menflruum;  and,  fecondly,  from  their  attrition  againft 
each  other  by  the  ftreams  or  tides,  for  a  great  length  of  time,  fucceffively, 
as  they  were  collected,  and,  perhaps,  when  fome  of  them  had  not  acquired 
their  hardeft  ftate. 

This  calcareous  fand  has  generally  been  called  ketton-flone,  and  believed 
to  referable  the  fpawn  of  nib;  it  has  acquired  a  form  fo  much  rounder  than 
filiceous  fand,  from  its  being  of  fo  much  fofter  a  texture,  and  alfo  much  more 
foluble  in  water.  There  are  other  foft  calcareous  ftones  called  tupha,  which 
are  depofued  from  water  on  moffes,  as  at  Matlock,  from  which  mofs  it  is 
probable  the  water  may  receive  fomething  which  induces  it  the  readier  to 
part  with  its  earth. 

In  fome  lime-ftones  the  living  animals  feem  to  have  been  buried,  as  well 
a«  their  fhells,  during  fome  great  convulfion  of  nature.  Thefe  fhells  contain 
a  black  coaly  fubftance  within  them,  in  others  fome  phlogifton  or  volatile 
alkali,  from  the  bodies  of  the  dead  animals,  remains  mixed  with  the  ftone, 
which  is  then  called  liver-ftone,  as  it  emits  a  fulphurous  fmell  on  being  ftruck; 
and  there  is  a  ftratum  about  fix  inches  thick  extends  a  confiderablc  way 
over  the  iron-ore  at  Wingerworth,  near  Chefterfield,  in  Derby  mire,  which, 
feems  evidently  to  have  been  formed  from  the  fhells  of  frefh-water  mufcles. 

There  is,  however,  another  fource  of  calcareous  earth  befides  the  aquatic 
one  above  defcribed,  and  that  is  from  the  recrements  of  land  animals  and 
vegetables,  as  found  in  marls,  which  confift  of  various  mixtures  of  calcareous 
earth,  fand,  and  clay,  all  of  them,  perhaps,  principally  from  vegetable 
origin. 

Dr.  Hutton  is  of  opinion-,  that  the  rocks  of  marble  have  been  foftened  by- 
fire  into  a  fluid  mafs,  which,  he  thinks,  under  immenfe  preffure,  might  be 
done  without  the  efcape  of  their  carbonic  acid  or  fixed  air.  ,  Edinb.  Tranf. 
vol.  I.  If  this  ingenious  idea  be  allowed,  it  might  account  for  the  purity  of 
fome  white  marbles,  as  during  their  fluid  ftate  there  might  be  time  for  their 
partial  impurities,  whether  from  the  bodies  of  the  animals  which  produced 
the  fhells,  or  from  other  extraneous  matter,  either  to  fublime  to  the  upper- 
moft  part  of  the  ftratum,  or  to  fubfide  to  the  lowermoft  part  of  it.  As  a 
confirmation  of  this  theory  of  Dr.  Hutton's,  it  may  be  added,  that  fome  cal- 
careous ftones  are  found  mixed  with  lime,  and  have  thence  loft  a  part  of 
their  fixed  air,  or  carbonic  gas,  as  the  bath-ftone,  and,  on  that  account, 
hardens  on  being  expofed  to  the  air,  and,  mixed  with  fulphur,  produces  cal- 
careous liver  of  fulphur.  Falconer  on  Bath-water,  vol.  I.  p.  156  and  p.  257. 
Mr.  Monnet  found  lime  in  powder  in  the  mountains  of  Auvergne,  and  fuf- 
pected  it  of  volcanic  origin.  Kirwan's  Min.  p.  aa. 


163  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 


NOTE  XVII.— MORASSES. 

GnofKfs  !  you  then  taught  tranfud'ing  deivs  to  pafs 

Through  time-fulfil  "woods,  and  root-iuivo-ve  morafs.      CANTO  II.  1.  ITS* 

WHERE  woods  have  repeatedly  grown  and  perifhed,  morafles  are,  in  pro- 
cefs  of  time.,  produced,  and  by  their  long  roots,  fill  up  the  interftices  till  the 
whole  becomes,  for  many  yards  deep,  a  niafs  of  vegetation.  This  fact  is  cu- 
rioufly  verified  by  an  account  given  many  years  ago  by  the  Earl  of  Cromar- 
tie,  of  which  the  following  is  a  fhort  abitra6L 

In  the  year  1651,  the  Earl  of  Cromartie,  being  then  nineteen  years  of  age, 
faw  a  plain  in  the  parifh  of  Lockburn  covered  over  with  a  firm  ftanding 
wood,  which  was  fo  old  that  not  only  the  trees  had  no  green  leaves  upon 
them,  but  the  bark  was  totally  thrown  off,  which,  he  was  there  informed 
by  the  old  countrymen,  was  the  oniverfal  manner  in  which  fir- woods  term:'- 
nated,  and  that  in  twenty  or  thirty  years  the  trees  would  caft  thcmfelves  up 
by  the  roots.  About  fifteen  years  after  he  had  occafion  to  travel  the  fame 
way,  and  obferved  that  there  was  not  a  tree  nor  the  appearance  of  a  root 
of  any  of  them ;  but  in  their  place,  the  whole  plain  where  the  wood,  flood 
was  covered  with  a  flat  green  mofs,  or  morafs,  and  on  alking  the  country- 
people  what  was  become  of  the  wood,  he  was  informed  that  no  one  had 
been  at  the  trouble  to  carry  it  away,  but  that  it  had  all  been  overturned  by 
the  wind,  that  the  trees  lay  thick  over  each  other,  and  that  the  mofs  or  bog- 
had  overgrown  the  whole  timber,  which,  they  added,  was  occafioned  by  the 
moifture  which  came  down  from  the  high  hills  above  it,  and  fhagnatcd  upon 
the  plain,  and  that  nobody  could  yet  pafs  over  it,  which,  however,  hi« 
.Lordfhip  was  fo  incautious  as  to  attempt,  and  flipt  up  to  the  arm-pits.  Be- 
fore the  year  1699,  that  whole  piece  of  ground  was  become  a  folid  mofs, 
wherein  the  peafants  then  dug  turf  or  peat,  which,  however,  was  not  yet  of 
the  belt  fort.  Phil.  Tranf.  No.  330.  Abriclg.  vol.  V.  p.  272. 

Moraffes  in  great  length  of  time  undergo  variety  of  changes,  firil  by  elu- 
triation,  and  afterwards  by  fermentation,  and  the  confequent  heat.  I.  By 
water  perpetually  oozing  through  them  the  moft  foluble  parts  are  firft  wafhed 
away,  as  the  effential  falts;  thefe,  together  with  the  falts  from  animal  recre- 
ments, are  carried  down  the  rivers  into  trie  fea,  where  all  of  them  feem  to 
decompofe  each  other  except  the  marine  fait.  Hence  the  afhes  of  peat  con- 
tain little  or  no  vegetable  alkali,  and  are  not  ufed.  in  the  countries  where 
peat  conftitutes  the  fuel  of  the  lower  people,  for  the  purpofe  of  waftiing 
linen.  The  fecond  thing  which  is  always  i'een  cozing  from  moraffes  is  iron 
in  folution,  which  produces  chalybeat  fprings,  from  whence  depoiitions  of 
ochre  and  variety  of  iron  ores.  The  third  elutriation  feems  to  confift  of  ve- 
getable acid,  which  by  means  unknown  appears  to  be  converted  into  all 
other  acids.  I.  Into  marine  and  nitrous  acids  as  mentioned  above,  a.  Into  vi- 
triolic acid,  which  is  found  in  fome  moraffes  fo  plentifully  as  to  prcferve  the 
bodies  of  animals  from  putrefaction  which  have  been  buried  in  them,  and  this 
acid,  carried  away  by  rain  and  dews,  and  meeting  with  calcareous  earth,  pro- 


NOTE  XVIII.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  169 

duces  gypfum  or  alabafter,  with  clay  it  produces  alum,  and,  deprived  of  its 
vital  air,  produces  fulphur.  3.  Fluor  acid,  which  being  waftied  away,  and 
meeting  with  calcareous  earth,  produces  fluor  or  cubic  fpar.  4.  The  filiceous 
acid,  which  feems  to  have  been  diffeminated  in  great  quantity  either  by  folu-» 
tion  in  water  or  by  folution  in  air,  and  appears  to  have  produced  the  fand  in 
the  fea,  uniting  with  calcareous  earth,  previoufly  diffolved  in  that  element, 
from  which  were  afterwards  formed  fome  of  the  grit-ftone  rocks  by  means 
of  a  filiceous  or  calcareous  cement.  By  its  union  with  the  calcareous  earth  of 
the  morafs,  other  ftrata  of  filiceous  fand  have  been  produced ;  and  by  the 
mixture  of  this  with  clay  and  lime  arofe  the  beds  of  marl. 

In  other  circumftances,  probably  where  lefs  moifture  has  prevailed,  mo* 
raffes  feem  to  have  undergone  a  fermentation,  as  other  vegetable  matter, 
new  hay,  for  inftance,  is  liable  to  do  from  the  great  quantity  of  fugar  it  con- 
tains. From  the  great  heat  thus  produced  in  the  lower  parts  of  immenfe 
beds  of  morafs,  the  phlogiltic  part,  or  oil,  or  afphaltum,  becomes  diftilled, 
and  rifing  into  higher  ftrata,  becomes  again  condenfed,  forming  coal-beds  of 
greater  or  lefs  purity  according  to  their  greater  or  lefs  quantity  of  inflam- 
mable matter;  at  the  fame  time  the  clay-beds  become  purer  or  lefs  fo,  as  the 
phlogiilic  part  is  more  or  lefs  completely  exhaled  from  them.  Though  coal 
and  clay  are  frequently  produced  in  this  manner,  yet  I  have  no  doubt,  but 
that  they  are  likewife  often  produced  by  elutriation ;  in  fituations  on  decli-* 
vities  the  clay  is  warned  away  down  into  the  valleys,  and  the  phlogiftic  part 
or  coal  left  behind;  this  circumftance  is  feen  in  many  valleys  near  the  beds 
of  rivers,  which  are  covered  recently  by  a  whitifh  impure  clay,  called  wa- 
ter-clay. See  note  XIX.  XX.  and  XXIII. 

LORD  CROMARTIE  has  furnifhed  another  curious  obfervation  on  moraffes 
in  the  paper  above  refered  to.  In  a  mofs  near  the  town  of  Eglin,  in  Murray, 
though  there  is  no  river  or  water  which  communicates  with  the  mofs,  yet 
for  three  or  four  feet  of  depth  in  the  mofs  there  are  little  fhell-fifh  refembling 
oyfters,  with  living  fifh  in  them  in  great  quantities,  though  no  fuch  fifh  are 
found  in  the  adjacent  rivers,  nor  even  in  the  water  pits  in  the  mofs,  but  only 
in  the  folid  fubftance  of  the  mofs.  This  curious  facl:  not  only  accounts  for 
the  fhells  fometimes  found  on  the  furface  of  coals,  and  in  the  clay  above 
them,  but  alfo  for  a  thin  ftratum  of  fhells  which  fometimes  exift  over  ironr 
ore. 


NOTE  XVIIL— IRON. 

Cold  iv antes,  immerfed,  the  gloiving  mafs  congeal, 

And  turn  to  adamant  the  bijjlng  Steel.  CANTO  II.  I.  191. 

AS  iron  is  formed  near  the  furface  of  the  earth,  it  becomes  expofed  to 
ftreams  of  water  and  of  air  more  than  moft  other  metallic  bodies,  and  thence 
becomes  combined  with  oxygene,  or  vital  air,  and  appears  very  frequently 
in  its  oilciform  ftatc,  as  in  variety  of  ochres.  Manganefc  and  zinc,  and 

PART  1.  Z 


1 70  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!, 

fomctimes  lead,  arc  alfo  found  near  the  furface  of  the  earth,  and,  on  that  ac- 
count, become  combined  with  vital  air,  and  are  exhibited  in  their  cakiform 
ftate. 

The  avidity  with  which  iron  unites  with  oxygene,  or  vital  air,  in  which 
procefs  much  heat  is  given  out  from  the  combining  materials,  is  (hewn  by  a 
curious  experiment  of  M.  Ingenhouz.  A  fine  iron  wire,  twifted  fpirally, 
is  fixed  to  a  cork,  on  the  point  of  the  fpire  is  fixed  a  match  made  of  agaric, 
dipped  in  folution  of  nitre;  the  match  is  then  ignited,  and  the  wire  with 
the  cork  put  immediately  into  a  bottle  full  of  vital  air,  the  match  firft  burns 
vividly,  and  the  iron  foon  takes  fire,  and  confumes  with  brilliant  fparks  tilt 
it  is  reduced  to  fmall  brittle  globules,  gaining  an  addition  of  about  one  third 
of  its  weight  by  its  union  with  vital  air.  Annales  de  Chimie.  Traite  dc 
Chimie,  par  Lavoifier,  c.  iii. 

STEEL. 

It  is  probably  owing  to  a  total  deprivation  of  vital  air,  which  it  hold* 
with  fo  great  avidity,  that  iron,  on  being  kept  many  hours  or  days  in  ignit- 
ed charcoal,  becomes  converted  into  fteel,  and  thence  acquires  the  faculty  of 
being  welded,  when  red  hot,  long  before  it  melts,  and  alfo  the  power  of  be- 
coming hard  when  immerfed  in  cold  water ;  both  which  I  fuppofe  depend 
on  the  fame  caufe,  that  is,  on  its  being  a  worfe  conductor  of  heat  than  other 
metals ;  and  hence  the  furface  both  acquires  heat  much  fooner,  and  lofes  it 
much  fooner  >  than  the  internal  parts  of  it,  in  this  circumftance  refembling 
glafs. 

When  fteel  is  made  very  hot,  and  fuddenly  immerged  in  very  cold  water, 
and  rnoved  about  in  it,  the  furface  of  the  fteel  becomes  cooled  firft,  and 
thus  producing  a  kind  of  cafe  or  arch  over  the  internal  part,  prevents  that 
internal  part  from  contracting  quite  fo  much  as  it  otherwife  would  do, 
whence  it  becomes  brittler  and  harder,  like  the  glafs  drops  called  Prince 
Rupert's  drops,  which  are  made  by  dropping  melted  glafs  into  cold  water. 
This  idea  is  countenanced  by  the  circumftance  that  hardened  fteel  is  fpeci- 
fically  lighter  than  fteel  which  is  more  gradually  cooled.  (Nicholfon's  Che- 
miftry,  p.  313.)  Why  the  brittlenefs  and  hardnefs  of  fteel  or  glafs  fliould 
keep  pace,  or  be  companions  to  each  other,  may  be  difficult  to  conceive. 

When  a  fteel  fpring  is  forcibly  bent  till  it  break,  it  requires  lefs  power  to 
bend  it  through  the  firft  inch  than  the  fecond,  and  lefs  through  the  fecond 
than  the  third.  The  fame  I  fuppofe  to  happen  if  a  wire  be  diftended  till  it 
break,  by  hanging  weights  to  it.  This  fhews  that  the  particles  may  be 
forced  from  each  other,  to  a  fmall  diftance,  by  lefs  power  than  is  necefTary 
to  make  them  recede  to  a  greater  diftance;  in  this  circumftance,  perhaps, 
the  attraction  of  cohefion  differs  from  that  of  gravitation,  which  exerts  its 
power  inverfely  as  the  fquares  of  the  diftance.  Hence  it  appears,  that  if  the 
innermoft  particles  of  a  fteel  bar,  by  cooling  the  external  furface  firft,  arc 
kept  from  approaching  each  other  fo  nearly  as  they  otherwife  would  do, 
that  they  become  in  the  fituation  of  the  particles,  on  the  convex  fide  of  a 
bent  fpring,  and  cannot  be  forced  farther  from  each  other  except  by  a  greater 


NOTE  XVIII.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  171 

power  than  would  have  been  neceffary  to  have  made  them  recede  thus  far. 
And,  fecondly,  that  if  they  be  forced  a  little  farther  from  each  other  they 
feparate:  this  may  be  exemplified  by  laying  two  magnetic  needles  parallel 
to  each  other,  the  contrary  poles  together,  then  drawing  them  longitudinally 
from  each  other,  they  will  Hide  with  fmall  force  till  they  begin  to  feparate, 
and  will  then  require  a  flronger  force  to  really  feparate  them.  Hence  it 
appears,  that  hardnefs  and  brittlenefs  depend  on  the  fame  circumftance,  that 
the  particles  are  removed  to  a  greater  diftance  from  each  other,  and  thus  re- 
fift  any  power  more  forcibly  which  is  applied  to  difplace  them  farther;  this 
conftitutes  hardnefs.  And,  fecondly,  if  they  are  difplaced  by  fuch  applied 
force,  they  immediately  feparate,  and  this  conftitutes  brittlenefs. 

Steel  may  be  thus  rendered  too  brittle  for  many  purpofes,  on  which  ac- 
count artifts  have  means  of  foftening  it  again,  by  expofing  it  to  certain  de- 
grees of  heat,  for  the  conftruction  of  different  kinds  of  tools,  which  is  calr 
led  tempering  it.  Some  artifts  plunge  large  tools  in  very  cold  water  as  foon 
as  they  ure  completely  ignited,  and  moving  them  about,  take  them  out  as 
foon  as  they  ceafe  to  be  luminous  beneath  the  watery  they  are  then  rubbed 
quickly  with  a  file,  or  on  fand,  to  clean  the  furface ;  the  heat  which  the  me- 
tal ftill  retains  foon  begins  to  produce  a  fucceflion  of  colours;  if  a  hard  tem- 
per be  required,  the  piece  is  dipped  again,  and  ftirred  about  in  cold  water 
as  foon  as  the  yellow  tinge  appears;  if  it  be  cooled  when  the  purple  tinge 
appears,  it  becomes  fit  for  gravers'  tools,  ufed  in  working  upon  metals;  if 
cooled  while  blue,  it  is  proper  for  fprings.  Nicholfon's  Chemiftry,  p.  313. 
Keir's  Chemical  Dictionary. 

MODERN  PRODUCTION  OF  IRON* 

The  recent  production  of  iron  is  evinced  from  the  chalybeate  water* 
which  flow  from  moraffes,  which  lie  upon  gravel-beds,  and  which  muft, 
therefore,  have  produced  iron  after  thofe  gravel-beds  were  raifed  out  of  the 
fea.  On  the  fouth  fide  of  the  road  between  Cheadle  and  Okeymoor,  in  Staf- 
fordfhire,  yellow  ftains  of  iron  are  feen  to  penetrate  the  gravel  from  a  thin 
morafs  on  its  furface.  There  is  a  fiffure  eight  or  ten  feet  wide,  in  a  gravel- 
bed  on  the  eaftern  fide  ef  the  hollow  road,  afcending  the  hill  about  a  mile 
from  Trentham,  in  Staffordfhire,  leading  toward  Drayton,  in  Shropfhire, 
which  fiffure  is  filled  up  with  nodules  of  iron-ore.  A  bank  of  fods  is  now 
raifed  againft  this  fiffure  to  prevent  the  loofe  iron  nodules  from  falling  into 
the  turnpike  road,  and  thus  this  natural  curiofity  is  at  prefent  concealed 
from  travellers.  A  fimilar  fiffure,  in  a  bed  of  marl,  and  filled  up  with  iron 
nodules,  and  with  fome  large  pieces  of  flint,  is  feen  on  the  eaftern  fide  of  the 
hollow  road  afcending  the  hill  from  the  turnpike  houfe,  about  a  mile  from 
Derby,  in  the  road  towards  Burton.  And  another  fuch  fiffure,  filled  with 
iron  nodes,  appears  about  half  a  mile  from  Newton-Solney,  in  Derbyfhire, 
in  the  road  to  Burton,  near  the  fummit  of  the  hill.  Thefe  collections  of  iron 
and  of  flint  muft  have  been  produced  pofterior  to  the  elevation  of  all  thofe 
hills,  and  were  thence  evidently  of  vegetable  or  animal  origin.  To  which 
ih  uid J  be  added,  that  iron  i»  found,  in  general,  in  beds  either  near  the  furface 


*^  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PAnt  t 

of  the  earth,  or  ^ratified  with  clay,  coals,  or  argillaceous  grit,  which  a?6 
themfelves  productions  of  the  modern  world,  that  is,  from  the  recrements 
of  vegetables  and  air-breathing  animals. 

Not  only  iron,  but  manganefe,  calamy,  and  even  copper  and  lead,  appear, 
in  fome  inftances,  to  have  been  of  recent  production.  Iron  and  manganefe 
are  detected  in  all  vegetable  productions,  and  it  is  probable  other  metallic 
bodies  might  be  found  to  exift  in  vegetable  or  animal  matters,  if  we  had 
tefts  to  detect  them  in  very  minute  quantities.  Manganefe  and  calamy  are 
found  in  beds  like  iron  near  the  furface  of  the  earth,  and  in  a  calciform 
ftate,  which  countenances  their  modern  production.  The  recent  produdtioft 
of  calamy,  one  of  the  ores  of  zinc,  appears  from  its  frequently  incrufting 
calcareous  fpar,  in  its  defcent  from  the  furface  of  the  earth  into  the  upper- 
molt  fiffures  of  the  lime-ftone  mountains  of  Derby  (hire.  That  the  calamy 
has  been  carried,  by  its  folutiori  or  diffufion  in  water,  into  thefe  cavities,  and 
not  by  its  afcent  from  below  in  form  of  {team,  is  evinced  from  its  not  only 
forming  a  cruft  over  the  dogtooth  fpar,  but  by  its  afterwards  diffolving  or 
deftroying  the  fparry  cryftal.  I  have  fpecimens  of  calamy  in  the  form  of 
dogtooth  fpar  two  inches  high,  which  are  hollow,  and  lland  half  an  inch 
above  the  diminilhed  fparry  cryftal  on  which  they  were  formed,  like  a  {heath 
a  great  deal  too  big  for  it;  this  feems  to  {hew,  that  this  procefs  was  carried 
on  in  water,  otherwife,  after  the  calamy  had  incrufted  its  fpar,  and  diflblved 
its  furface,  fo  as  to  form  a  hollow  cavern  over  it,  it  could  not  a6t  further 
Upon  it  except  by  the  interpofition  of  fome  medium.  As  thefe  fpars  and  ca- 
jamy  are  formed  in  the  fiffures  of  mountains,  they  muft  both  have  beea 
formed  after  the  elevations  of  thofe  mountains. 

In  refpetfl  to  the  recent  production  of  copper,  it  was  before  obferved,  ifi 
toote  on  Canto  II.  1.  398,  that  the  fummit  of  the  grit-flone  mountain  at 
tlawkftone,  in  Shropfliire,  is  tinged  with  copper,  which,  from  the  appear- 
ance of  the  blue  {tains,  feems  to  have  defcended  to  the  parts  of  the  rock  be-* 
neath.  I  have  a  calciform  ore  of  copper  coniifting  of  the  hollow  crufts  of 
cubic  cells,  which  has  evidently  been  formed  on  cryflals  of  fluor,  which  it 
has  eroded  in  the  fanie  manner  as  the  calamy  erodes  the  calcareous  cryftals, 
from  whence  may  be  deduced,  in  the  fame  manner,  the  aqueous  folution  or 
diffufion,  as  well  as  the  recent  production  of  this  calciform  ore  of  copper. 

Lead,  in  fmall  quantities,  is  fometimes  found  in  the  fiffures  of  coal-beds, 
\vhich  fiffures  are  previoufly  covered  with  fpar ;  and  fometimes  in  nodules 
t)f  iron-ore.  Of  the  former  I  have  a  fpecimen  from  near  Caulk,  in  Derby- 
fhire,  and  of  the  latter  from  Colebrook  Dale,  in  Shropfhire.  Though  all 
thefe  fa6ts  {hew  that  fome  metallic  bodies  arc  formed  from  vegetable  or1 
animal  recrements,  as  iron,  and  perhaps  manganefe  and  calamy,  all  which 
arc  found  near  the  furface  of  the  earth;  yet  as  the  other  metals  are  found 
tonly  in  fiffures  of  rocks,  which  penetrate  to  unknown  depths,  they  may  be 
wholly  or  in  part  produced  by  afcending  fleams  from  fubterraneou:  fires,  as 
mentioned  in  note  on  Canto  II.  1.  398. 


NOTE  XVIII.          ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 


SEPTARIA  OF   IRON-STONE. 

Over  fome  lime  works  at  Walfall,  in  Staffordfhire,  I  obferved  fome  years 
ago  a  flratum  of  iron  earth  about  fix  inches  thick,  full  of  very  large  cavities; 
thefe  cayities  were  evidently  produced  when  the  material  patted  from  a  fe- 
mi-fluid  ftate  into  a  folid  one  ;  as  the  frit  of  the  potters,  or  a  mixture  of 
clay  and  water,  is  liable  to  crack  in  drying;  which  is  owing  to  the  further 
contraction  of  the  internal  part,  after  the  cruft  has  become  hard.  Thefe 
hollows  are  liable  to  receive  extraneous  matter,  as,  I  believe,  gypfum,  and 
Ibmetimes  fpar,  and  even  lead;  a  curious  fpecimen  of  the  laft  was  prefented 
to  me  by  Mr.  Darby,  of  Colebrook  Dale,  which  contains  in  its  cavity  fome 
ounces  of  lead-ore.  But  there  are  other  feptaria  of  iron-ftone,  which  feem. 
to  have  had  a  very  different  origin,  their  cavities  having  been  formed  in  cool- 
ing or  congealing  from  an  ignited  ftate,  as  is  ingenioufly  deduced  by  Dr. 
Hutton,  from  their  internal  ftructure.  Edinb.  Tranf.  vol.  1.  p.  246.  The 
volcanic  origin  of  thefe  curious  feptaria,  appears  to  me  to  be  further  evinced 
from  their  form  and  the  places  where  they  are  found.  They  confift  of  ob- 
late fpheroids,  and  are  found  in  many  parts  of  the  earth  totally  detached 
from  the  beds  in  which  they  lie,  as  at  Eaft-Lothian,  in  Scotland.  Two  of 
thefe,  which  now  lie  before  me,  were  found,  with  many  others,  immerfed 
in  argillaceous  (hale,  or  ihiver,  furrounded  by  broken  lime-ftone  mountains, 
at  Bradbourn,  near  Afhbourn,  in  Derbyfhire,  and  were  prefented  to  me  by 
Mr.  Buxton,  a  gentleman  of  that  town.  One  of  thefe  is  about  fifteen  inches 
in  its  equatorial  diameter,  and  about  fix  inches  in  its  polar  one,  and  contains 
beautiful  ftarlike  feptaria,  incrufted,  and  in  part  filled  with  calcareous  fpar. 
The  other  is  about  eight  inches  in  its  equatorial  diameter,  and  about  four 
inches  in  its  polar  diameter,  and  is  quite  folid,  but  fhews  on  its  internal  fur- 
face  marks  of  different  colours,  as  if  a  beginning  feparation  had  taken  place. 
Now,  as  thefe  feptaria  contain  fifty  per  cent,  of  iron,  according  to  Dr.  Hut- 
ton,  they  would  foften  or  melt  into  a  femi-fluid  globule,  by  fubterraneous 
fire,  by  lefs  heat  than  the  lime-ftone  in  their  vicinity  ;  and  if  they  were 
ejected  through  a  hole  or  failure,  would  gain  a  circular  motion  along  with 
their  progreflive  one,  by  their  greater  friction  or  adhefion  to  one  fide  of  the 
hole.  This  whirling  motion  would  produce  the  oblate  fpheroidical  form 
which  they  poffefs,  and  which,  as  far  as  I  know,  can  not  in  any  other  way 
be  accounted  for.  They  would  then  harden  in  the  air  as  they  rofe  into  the 
colder  parts  of  the  atmofphere  ;  and  as  they  defcended  into  fo  foft  a  mate- 
rial as  fhale  or  ftiiver,  their  forms  would  not  be  injured  in  their  fall;  and 
their  prefence  in  materials  fo  different  from  themfelves  becomes  accounted  for. 

About  the  tropics  of  the  large  feptarium  above-mentioned,  are  circular 
eminent  lines,  fuch  as  might  have  been  left  if  it  had  been  coarfely  turned  in 
a  lath.  Thefe  lines  feem  to  confift  of  fluid  matter,  which  feems  to  have 
exfuded  in  circular  zones,  as  their  edges  appear  blunted  or  retracted  ;  and 
the  feptarium  feems  to  feave  fplit  eafier  in  fuch  fections  parrallel  to  its  equa- 
tor. Now,  as  the  cruft  would  firft  begin  to  cool  and  harden  after  its  ejection 
in  a  femi-fluid  ftate,  and  the  equatorial  diameter  would  become  gradually  en- 


•I  74  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

larged  as  i{  rofe  in  the  air ;  the  internal  parts,  being  foftcr,  would  flide  be- 
neath the  polar  cruft,  which  might  crack,  and  permit  part  of  the  femi-fluid  to 
exfude,  and  it  is  probable  the  adhefion  would  thus  become  lefs  in  fections 
parallel  to  the  equator.  Which  further  confirms  this  idea  of  the  produc- 
tion of  thefe  curious  feptaria.  A  new-caft  cannon  ball,  red-hot,  with  its  cruft 
only  folid,  if  it  were  fliot  into  the  air,  would  probably  burft  in  its  pafiage,  as 
it  would  confift  of  a  more  fluid  material  than  thefe  feptaria;  and  thus,  by 
dafcharging  a  fhower  of  liquid  iron,  would  produce  more  dreadful  combuf- 
tion,  if  ufed  in  war,  than  could  be  effected  by  a  ball  which  had  been  cooled 
and  was  heated  again,  fmce,  in  the  latter  cafe,  the  ball  could  not  have  its 
internal  parts  made  hotter  than  the  cruft  of  it,  without  firft  lofmg  its  form. 


NOTE  XIX.— FLINT. 

*Tranfmute  to  glittering  Flints  her  chalky  lands , 

Or  Jink  on  Oceans  bed  in  countlefs  Sands,  CANTO  II.  1.  217. 

I.  SILICEOUS    ROCKS. 

THE  great  mafies  of  filiceous  fand  which  lie  in  rocks  upon  the  beds  of 
lime-ftone,  or  which  are  ftratified  with  clay^  coal,  and  iron-ore,  are  evident- 
ly produced  in  the  decompofition  of  vegetable  or  animal  matters,  as  explained 
in  the  note  on  moraffes.  Hence  the  impreflions  of  vegetable  roots  and  even 
whole  trees  are  often  found  in  fand-ftone,  as  well  as  in  coals  and  iron-ore.  In 
thefe  fand-roeks  both  the  filiceous  acid  and  the  calcareous  bafe  feem  to  be 
produced  from  the  materials  of  the  morafs ;  for  though  the  prefence  of  a  fili- 
ceous acid  and  of  a  calcareous  bafe  have  n<jt  yet  been  feparately  exhibited 
from  flints,  yet  from  the  analogy  of  flint  to  fluor,  and  gypfum,  and  marble, 
and  from  the  converfion  of  the  latter  into  flint,  there  can  be  little  doubt  of 
their  exiftence. 

Thefe  filiceous  fand-rocks  are  either  held  together  by  a  filiceous  cement, 
or  have  a  greater  or  lefs  portion  of  clay  in  them,  which  in  fome  acts  as  a  ce- 
ment to  the  filiceous  cryftals,  but  in  others  is  in  fuch  great  abundance  that 
in  burning  them  they  become  an  imperfect  porcelain,  and  are  then  ufed  to 
repair  the  roads,  as  at  Chefterfield,  in  Derbyfhire ;  thefe  are  called  argillace- 
ous grit  by  Mr.  Kirwan.  In  other  places,  a  calcareous  matter  cements  the 
•cryftals  together  ;  and  in  other  places  the  filiceous  cryftals  lie  in  loofe  ftrata, 
under  the  marl,  in  the  form  of  white  fand;  as  at  Normington,  about  a  mile 
from  Derby. 

The  loweft  beds  of  filiceous  fand-ftone,  produced  from  morafles,  fcem  to 
obtain  their  acid  from  the  morafsj  and  their  calcareous  bafe  from  the  lime- 
ftone  on  which  it  refts.  Thefe  beds  pofiefs  a  filiceous  cement,  and  from 
their  greater  purity  and  hardnefs  are  ufed  for  coaife  grinding-ftone  s  and 
fcythe  ftones,  and  are  fituated  on  the  edges  of  lime-ftone  countries,  having 
loft  the  other  ftrata  of  coals,  or  clay,  or  iron,  which  were  originally  produced 


&6TEXIX.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  ijj 

above  them.  Such  are  the  fand-rocks  incumbent  on  lime-ftone  near  Mat- 
lock,  in  Derbyfhire.  As  thei'e  filiceous  fand-rocks  contain  no  marine  pro- 
ductions fcattered  amongft  them,  they  appear  to  have  been  elevated,  torn  tt> 
pieces,  and  many  fragments  of  them  fcattered  over  the  adjacent  country,  by 
cxplofions,  from  fires  within  the  morafs  from  which  they  have  been  formed, 
and  which  diffipated  every  thing  inflammable  above  and  beneath  them,  except 
fome  ftams  of  iron  with  which  they  are  in  fome  places  fpotted.  If  thefe  fand- 
rocks  had  been  accumulated  beneath  the  fea,  and  elevated  along  with  the 
beds  of  lime-ftone  on  which  they  reft,  fome  veftiges  of  marine  {hells,  either  in 
their  filiceous  or  calcareous  flate,  muft  have  been  diicerned  amongft  them. 

a.  SILICEOUS  TREES. 

In  many  of  thefe  fand-rocks  are  found  the  impreflipns  of  vegetable  roots* 
which  feem  to  have  been  the  moft  unchangeable  parts  of  the  plant,  as  fhells 
and  fliark's  teeth  are  found  in  chalk  beds,  from  their  being  the  moft  un- 
changeable parts  of  the  animal*  In  other  inftances  the  wood  itfelf  is  pene- 
trated, and  whole  trees  converted  into  flint ;  fpecimens  of  which  I  have  by 
me,  from  near  Coventry,  and  from  a  gravel-pit  in  Shropfhire,  near  Child's 
Archal,  in  the  road  to  Drayton.  Other  polifhed  fpecimens  of  vegetable 
flints  abound  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curious,  which  evidently  fhew  the  con- 
centric circles  of  woody  fibres,  and  their  interftices  filled  with  whiter  filice- 
ous matter,  with  the  branching  off  of  the  knots  when  cut  horizontally,  and 
the  parallel  lines  of  wood  when  cut  longitudinally,  with  uncommon  beauty 
and  variety.  Of  thefe  I  poflefs  fome  beautiful  fpecimens,  which  were  pre- 
fented  to  me  by  the  Earl  of  Uxbridge. 

The  colours  of  thefe  filiceous  vegetables  are  generally  brown,  from  the 
iron,  I  fuppofe,  or  mangenefe,  which  induced  them  to  cryftalize  or  to  fufe 
more  eafily.  Some  of  the  cracks  of  the  wood  in  drying  are  filled  with  white 
flint  or  calcedony,  and  others  of  them  remain  hollow,  lined  with  innumera- 
ble fmall  cryftals,  tinged  with  iron,  which  I  fuppofe  had  a  fhare  in  convert- 
ing their  calcareous  matter  into  filiceous  cryftals,  becaufe  the  cryftals  called 
Peak-diamonds  are  always  found  bedded  in  an  ochreous  earth ;  and  thofe 
called  Briftol-ftones  are  fituated  on  lime-ftone  coloured  with  iron.  Mr.  F. 
French  prefented  me  with  a  congeries  of  filiceous  cryftals,  which  he  gather- 
ed on  the  crater  (as  he  fuppofes)  of  an  extinguifhed  volcano  at  Cromach 
Water,  in  Cumberland.  The  cryftals  are  about  an  inch  high,  in  the  fliape  of 
dogtooth  or  caLareous  fpar,  covered  with  a  dark  ferruginous  matter.  The 
bed  on  which  they  reft  is  about  an  inch  in  thicknefs,  and  is  ftained  with 
iron  on  its  under  furface.  This  curious  foffil  fhews  the  tranfmutation  of  cal- 
careous earth  into  filiceous,  as  much  as  the  filiceous  fhells  which  abound  in  the 
cabinets  of  the  curious.  There  may  fome  time  be  difcovered  in  this  age  of  fci- 
cnce,  a  method  of  thus  impregnating  wood  with  liquid  flint,  which  would 
produce  pillars  for  the  fupport,  and  tiles  for  the  covering  of  houfes,  which 
would  be  uninflammable  and  endure  as  long  as  the  earth  beneath  them. 

That  fome  filiceous  productions  have  been  in  a  fluid  ftate  without  much 
heat  at  the  time  of  their  formation,  appears  from  the  vegetable  flint*  above  de-. 


i;6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

fcribed  not  having  quite  loft  their  organized  appearance ;  from  fliells,  and 
coralloids,  and  entrochi  being  converted  into  flint  without  lofing  their  form  ; 
from  the  bafon  of  calcedony  round  Giefar,  in  Iceland,  and  from  the  experi- 
ment of  Mr.  Bergman,  who  obtained  thirteen  regular  formed  cryftals  by 
fuffering  the  powder  of  quartz  to  remain  in  a  veffel  with  fluor  acid  for  two 
years;  thefe  cryftals  were  about  the  fize  of  fmall  peas,  and  were  not  fo 
hard  as  quartz.  Opufc.  de  Terra  Silicea,  p.  33.  Mr.  Achard  procured 
both  calcareous  and  filiceous  cryftals,  one  from  calcareous  earth,  and  the 
other  from  the  earth  of  alum,  both  diffolved  in  water  impregnated  with  fix- 
ed air;  the  water  filtrating  very  flowly  through  a  porous  bottom  of  baked 
clay.  See  Journal  de  Phyfique,  for  January,  1778. 

3.  AGATES,  ONYXES,  SCOTS-PEBBLES. 

In  fmall  cavities  of  thefe  fand-rocks,  I  am  informed,  the  beautiful  filiceous 
hodules  are  found  which  are  called  Scots-pebbles;  and  which,  on  being  cut 
in  different  directions,  take  the  names  of  agates,  onyxes,  fardonyxes,  &c. 
according  to  the  colours  of  the  lines  or  ftrata  which  they  exhibit.  Some  of 
the  nodules  are  hollow  and  filled  with  cryftals,  others  have  a  nucleus  of  lefs 
compact  filiceous  matter,  which  is  generally  white,  furrounded  with  many 
concentric  ftrata,  coloured  with  iion,  and  other  alternate  ftrata  of  white  agate 
or  calcedony,  fometimes  to  the  number  of  thirty. 

I  think  thefe  nodules  bear  evident  marks  of  their  having  been  in  perfect 
fufion  by  either  heat  alone,  or  by  water  and  heat,  under  great  preffure,  ac- 
cording to  the  ingenious  theory  of  Dr.  Hutton ;  but  I  do  not  imagine,  that 
they  were  inje&ed  into  cavities  from  materials  from  without,  but  that  fomc 
vegetables  or  parts  of  vegetables  containing  more  iron  or  manganefe  than 
others,  facilitated  the  complete  fufion,  thus  deftroying  the  veftiges  of  vege- 
table organization,  which  were  confpicuous  in  the  filiceous  trees  above-men- 
tioned. Some  of  thefe  nodules  being  hollow  and  lined  with  cryftals,  and 
others  containing  a  nucleus  of  white  filiceous  matter  of  a  loofer  texture, 
fhew  they  were  compofed  of  the  materials  then  exifting  in  the  cavity ;  which 
con  fitting  before  of  loofe  fand,  muft  take  up  lefs  fpace  when  fufed  into  a  folid 
maft. 

Thefe  filiceous  nodules  refemble  the  nodules  of  iron-ftone  mentioned  in 
note  on  Canto  II.  1.  183,  in  refpect  to  their  poffefling  ^  great  number  of 
concentric  fpheres,  coloured  generally  with  iron;  but  they  differ  in  this  chv 
cumftance,  that  the  concentric  fpheres  generally  obey  the  form  of  the  exter- 
nal cruft,  and  in  their  not  poffeffing  a  chalybeate  nucleus.  The  ftalaclites 
formed  on  the  roofs  of  caverns  are  often  coloured  in  concentric  ftrata,  by 
their  coats  being  fpread  over  each  other  at  different  times;  and  fome  of 
them,  as  the  cupreous  ones,  poffefs  great  beauty  from  this  formation ;  but 
as  thefe  are  neceffarily  more  or  lefs  of  a  cylindrical  or  conic  form,  the  nodu- 
les or  globular  flints  above  defcribed  cannot  have  been  conftru&ed  in  this 
manner.  To  what  law  of  nature  then  is  to  be  referred  the  production  of 
fuch  numerous  concentric  fpheres  ?  I  fufpecl:  to  the  law  of  congelation. 

When  fait  and  water  are  expofed  to  fevere  frofty  air,  the  fait  is  faid  to  be 


NOTE  XIX.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  *7Jr 

precipitated  as  the  water  freezes;  that  is,  as  the  heat  in  which  it  was  diffolv- 
ed  is  withdrawn:  where  the  experiment  is  tried  in  a  bowl  or  bafon,  this 
may  be  true,  as  the  furface  freezes  firft,  and  the  fait  is  found  at  the  bot- 
torn.  But  in  a  fluid  expofed  in  a  thin  phial,  I  found,  by  experiment,  that 
jthe  extraneous  matter  previoufly  diflblved  by  the  heat,  in  the  mixture,  was 
i>ot  fimply  fet  at  liberty  to  fubfide,  but  was  detruded  or  pulhed  backward  as 
the  ice  was  produced.  The  experiment  was  this:  about  two  ounces  of  a  fo- 
lution  of  blue  vitriol  were  accidentally  frozen  in  a  thin  phial,  the  glafs  was 
cracked  and  fallen  to  pieces,  the  ice  was  diflblyed,  and  I  found  a  pillar  of 
blue  vitriol  ftanding  erecl:  on  the  bottom  of  the  broken  bottle.  Nor  is  this 
power  of  congelation  more  extraordinary  than  that,  by  its  powerful  and  fudr 
den  expanfion,  it  fhould  burft  iron  fhells  and  coehorns,  or  throw  out  the  plugs 
with  which  the  water  was  fecured  in  them,  above  one  hundred  and  thirty 
yards,  according  to  the  experiments  at  Quebec,  by  Major  Williams.  Edinb. 
Tranfaa.  vol.  II.  p.  23. 

In  fome  filiceous  nodules,  which  now  lie  before  me,  the  external  cruft  foe 
#bout  the  tenth  of  an  inch  confifts  of  white  agate,  in  others  it  is  much  thinner, 
2nd  in  fome  much  thicker ;  correfponding  with  this  cruft  there  are  from 
twenty  to  thirty  fuperincumbent  ftrata,  of  alternately  darker  and  lighter 
colour;  whence  it  appears,  that  the  external  cruft,  a§  it  cooled  or  froze,  pro- 
pelled from  it  the  iron  or  manganefe  which  was  diflblved  in  it;  this  receded 
till  it  had  formed  an  arch  or  vault  ftrong  enough  to  refift  its  further  protru- 
fion;  then  the  next  inner  fphere  or  ftratum,  as  it  cooled  or  froze,  propelled 
forwards  its  colouring  matter  in  the  fame  manner,  till  another  arch  or  fphere 
produced  fufficient  refiftance  to  this  frigorefcent  expulfion.  Some  of  them 
have  detruded  their  colouring  matter  quite  t6  the  centre,  the  rings  continu- 
ing to  become  darker  as  they  are  nearer  it ;  in  others  the  chalybeate  arch  feems 
to  have  flopped  half  an  inch  from  the  centre,  and  become  thicker  by  having 
attracted  to  itfelf  the  irony  matter  from  the  white  nucleus,  owing  probably 
to  its  cooling  lefs  precipitately  in  the  central  parts  than  at  the  furface  of  the 
pebble. 

A  fimilar  detrufion  of  a  marly  matter,  in  circular  arches  or  vaults,  obtains 
in  the  fait  mines  in  Cheflaire;  from  whence  Dr.  Hutton  very  ingenioufly 
concludes,  that  the  fait  muft  have  been  liquified  by  heat,  which  would  feen> 
to  be  much  confirmed  by  the  above  theory.  Edinb.  Tranf.  vol.  I.  p.  244. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  account  of  Scots-pebbles  without  obferving,  that 
fome  of  them,  on  being  favved  longitudinally  afunder,  feem  ftill  to  poflefs 
fome  veftiges  of  the  cylindrical  organization  of  vegetables;  others  poflefs  a 
nucleus  of  white  agajte,  much  refembling  fome  bulbous  roots,  with  their  con- 
centric coats,  or  the  knots  in  elm-roots  or  crab-trees;  fome  of  thefe,  I  fup- 
pofe,  were  formed  in  the  manner  above  explained,  during  the  congelation 
«f  maffes  of  melted  flint  and  iron ;  others  may  have  been  formed  from  a  ve- 
getable nucleus,  and  retain  fome  veftiges  of  the  organization  of  the  plant. 


PART  I.  2  A 


178  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!, 


4.   SAND   OF   THE    SEA. 

The  great  abundance  of  filiceous  fand  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  may,  in 
part,  be  waflied  down  from  the  filiceous  rocks  above  defcribed;  but,  in  gene- 
ral, I  fuppofe  it  derives  its  acid  only  from  the  vegetable  and  animal  matter 
of  morafies,  which  is  carried  down  by  floods  or  by  the  atmofphere,  and  be- 
comes united  in  the  fea  with  its  calcareous  bafe,  from  fhells  and  coralloids, 
and  thus  aflumes  its  cryftalline  form  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  and  is  there 
intermixed  with  gravel,  or  other  matters,  waflied  from  the  mountains  in 
its  vicinity. 

5.   CHERT,   OR   PETROSILEX. 

The  rocks  of  marble  are  often  alternately  intermixed  with  ftrata  of  chert, 
or  coarfe  flint,  and  this  in  beds  from  one  to  three  feet  thick,  as  at  Ham  and 
Matlock,  or  of  lefs  than  the  tenth  of  an  inch  in  thicknefs,  as  a  mile  or  two 
from  Bakewell,  in  the  road  to  Buxton.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  in  what 
manner  ten  or  twenty  ftrata  of  either  lime-ftone  or  flint,  of  different  fhades 
of  white  and  black,  could  be  laid  quite  regularly  over  each  other  from  fedi- 
ments,  or  precipitations  from  the  fca;  it  appears  to  me  much  eafier  to  com- 
prehend, by  fuppofmg,  with  Dr.  Hutton,  that  both  the  folid  rocks  of  mar- 
ble and  the  flint  had  been  fufed  by  great  heat  (or  by  heat  and  water),  under 
immenfe  preffure;  by  its  cooling,  or  congealing,  the  colouring  matter  might 
be  detruded,  and  form  parallel  or  curvilinear  ftrata,  as  above  explained. 

The  colouring  matter,  both  of  lime-ftone  and  flint,  was  probably  owing 
to  the  flefh  of  peculiar  animals,  as  well  as  the  filiceous  acid,  which  converted 
fome  of  the  lime-ftone  into  flint ;  or  to  fome  ftrata  of  fhell-fifh  having  been 
overwhelmed,  when  alive,  with  new  materials,  while  others,  dying  in  their 
natural  fituations,  would  lofe  their  flefhy  part,  either  by  its  putrid  folution 
in  the  water,  or  by  its  being  eaten  by  other  fea  infecls.  I  have  fome  calca- 
reous foflil  fhells  which  contain  a  black  coaly  matter  in  them,  which  was 
evidently  the  body  of  the  animal,  and  others  of  the  fame  kind  filled  with 
fpar  inftead  of  it.  The  Labradore  ftone  has,  I  fuppofe,  its  colours  from  the 
nacre,  or  m.other-pearl  Ihells,  from  which  it  was  probably  produced.  And 
there  is  a  ftratum  of  calcareous  matter  about  fix  or  eight  inches  thick,  at 
Wingerworth,  in  Derbyfhire,  over  the  iron-beds,  which  is  replete  with  fhells 
of  frefh-water  mufcles,  and  evidently  obtains  its  dark  colour  from  them,  as 
mentioned  in  note  XVI.  Many  nodules  of  flint  refemble,  in  colour,  as  well 
in  form,  the  fhells  of  the  echinus,  or  fea-urchin ;  others  refemble  fome  co- 
ralloids,  both  in  form  and  colour;  and  M.  Arduini  found  in  the  Monte  de 
Pancrafio,  red  flints  branching  like  corals,  from  whence  they  feem  to  have 
obtained  both  their  form  and  their  colour.  Ferber's  Travels  in  Italy, 
p.  4*. 


NOTE  XIX.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  179 

6.   NODULES   OF   FLINT   IN   CHALK-BEDS. 

As  the  nodules  of  flint  found  in  chalk-beds  poflefs  no  marks  of  having 
been  rounded  by  attrition  or  folution,  I  conclude  that  they  have  gained  their 
form,  as  well  as  their  dark  colour,  from  the  flelh  of  the  (hell-fifh  from  which 
they  had  their  origin ;  but  which  have  been  fo  completely  fufed  by  heat,  or 
heat  and  water,  as  to  obliterate  all  veftiges  of  the  fhell,  in  the  fame  manner 
as  the  nodules  of  agate  and  onyx  were  produced  from  parts  of  vegetables, 
but  which  had  been  fo  completely  fufed  as  to  obliterate  all  marks  of  their 
organization,  or  as  many  iron-nodules  have  obtained  their  form  and  origin 
from  peculiar  vegetables. 

Some  nodules  in  chalk-beds  confift  of  fhells  of  echini  filled  up  with  chalk* 
the  animal  having  been  diffolved  away  by  putrefcence  in  water,  or  eaten  by 
other  fea  infects;  other  fhells  of  echini,  in  which  I  fuppofe  the  animal's  body 
remained,  are  converted  into  flint,  but  ftill  retain  the  form  of  the  fhcll. 
Others,  I  fuppofe^  as  above,  being  more  completely  fufed,  have  become  flint- 
coloured  by  the  animal  flefh,  but  without  the  exact  form  either  of  the  flefh 
or  fhell  of  the  animal.  Many  of  thefe  are  hollow  within,  and  lined  with 
cryftals,  like  the  Scots-pebbles  above  defcribed;  but  as  the  colouring  matter 
of  animal  bodies  differs  little  from  each  other  compared  with  thofe  of  vege- 
tables, thefe  flints  vary  lefs  in  their  colours  than  thofe  above-mentioned.  At 
the  fame  time  as  they  cooled  in  concentric  fpheres,  like  the  Scots-pebbles, 
they  often  poffefs  faint  rings  of  colours,  and  always  break  in  conchoidc 
forms  like  them. 

This  idea  of  the  productions  of  nodules  of  flint  in  chalk-beds,  is  counte- 
nanced from  the  iron  which  generally  appears  as  thefe  flints  become  decom* 
pofed  by  the  air,  which,  by  uniting  with  the  iron  in  their  competition,  re- 
duces it  from  a  vitrefcent  ftate  to  that  of  calx,  and  thus  renders  it  vifible. 
And,  fecondly,  by  there  being  no  appearance  in  chalk-bede  of  a  firing  or 
pipe  of  filiceous  matter  connecting  one  nodule  with  another,  which  mufl 
have  happened  if  the  filiceous  matter,  or  its  acid,  had  been  injected  from 
without,  according  to  the  idea  of  Dr.  Hutton.  And,  thirdly,  becaufe  many 
of  them  have  very  large  cavities  at  their  centres,  which  fhould  not  have 
happened  had  they  been  formed  by  the  injection  of  a  material  from  without. 

When  fhells  or  chalk  are  thus  converted  from  calcareous  to  filiceous  mat- 
ter by  the  flefh  of  the  animal,  the  new  flint  being  heavier  than  the  fhell  or 
chalk,  occupies  lefs  fpace  than  the  materials  it  was  produced  from ;  this  is 
the  caufe  of  frequent  cavities  within  them,  where  the  whole  mafs  has  not 
been  completely  fufed  and  preffed  together.  In  Derby fhire  there  are  mafTcs 
of  coralloid  and  other  fhells  which  have  become  filiceous,  and  are  thus  left 
with  large  vacuities,  fometimes  within  and  fometimcs  on  the  outfide  of  the 
remaining  form  of  the  fhell,  like  the  French  mill-ftones,  and,  I  fuppofe, 
might  ferve  the  fame  purpofe;  the  gravel  of  the  Derwent  is  full  of  fpeci- 
mens  of  this  kind. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  received  a  very  ingenious  account  of 
chalk-beds  from  Dr.  Menifh,  of  Chelmsford.  He  diftinguifhes  chalk-beds 


i8d  BOTANIC  GARDEN. 

into  three  kinds;  fuch  as  have  been  raifed  from  the  fea  with  little 
ance  of  their  ftrata,  as  the  cliffs  of  Dover  and  Margate,  which  he  terms  in* 
tire  chalk.  Another  ftate  of  chalk  is  where  it  has  fuffered  much  derangement^ 
as  the  banks  of  the  Thames  at  Gravefend  and  Dartford.  And  a  third  ftate, 
where  fragments  of  chalk  have  been  rounded  by  water,  which  he  terms  «/- 
'iuvial  chalk.  In  the  firft  of  thefe  fituations  of  chalk  he  obferves,  that  the 
flint  lies  in  ftrata  horizontally,  generally  in  diftindl  nodules,  but  that  he  haf 
bbferved  two  inftances  of  folid  plates  or  ftrata  of  flint,  from  an  inch  to  two" 
inches  in  thicknefs,  interpofed  between  the  chalk-beds;  one  of  thefe  is  in  a 
chalk-bank  by  the  road  fide,  at  Berkhamftead,  the  other  in  a  bank  on  the 
road  from  Chatham  leading  to  Canterbury.  Dr.  Menifti  has  further  ob- 
ferved,  that  many  of  the  echini  are  crufhed  in  their  form,  and  yet  filled 
with  flint,  which  has  taken  the  form  of  the  crufhed  fhellj  and  that  though- 
many  flint  nodules  are  hollow,  yet  that  in  fome  echini  the  filiceum  feems  to 
have  enlarged  as  it  paffed  from  a  fluid  to  a  folid  ftate,  as  it  fwells  out  in  a 
protuberance  at  the  mouth  and  anus  of  the  fhell,  and  that  though  thefe 
Jhells  are  fo  filled  with  flint,  yet  that  in  many  places  the  fhell  itfelf  remain* 
calcareous.  Thefe  ftrata  of  nodules  and  plates  of  flint  feem  to  countenance 
Uieir  origin  from  the  flefh  of  a  ftratum  of  animals  which  perifhed  by  fome 
natural  violence,  and  were  buried  in  their  fhells. 

7.    ANGLES   OF    SILICEOUS    SAND, 

In  many  rocks  of  filiceous  fand  the  particles  retain  their  angular  form> 
fend  in  fome  beds  of  loofe  fand,  of  which  there  is  one  of  confiderable  purity 
a  few  yards  beneath  the  marl  at  Normington,  about  a  mile  fouth  of  Derby. 
Other  filiceous  fands  have  had  their  angles  rounded  off,  like  the  pebbles  irt 
gravel-beds.  Thefe  feem  to  owe  their  globular  form  to  two  canfes;  one  td 
their  attrition  againft  each  other,  when  they  may  for  centuries  have  lain  at 
the  bottom  of  the  fea,  or  of  rivers,  where  they  may  have  been  progrefiively 
accumulated,  and  thus  progrefilvely  at  the  fame  time  rubbed  upon  each  other 
by  the  dafhing  of  the  water,  and  where  they  would  be  more  eafily  rolled 
over  each  other  by  their  gravity  being  fo  much  lefs  than  in  air.  This  is 
evidently  now  going  on  in  the  river  Derwent ;  for  though  there  are  no  limej 
Hone  rocks  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles  above  Derby,  yet  a  great  part  of  the  ri- 
ver-gravel at  Derby  confifts  of  lime-ftone  nodules,  whofe  angles  are  quite 
worn  off  in  their  defcent  down  the  ftream. 

There  is,  however,  another  caufe  which  muft  have  contributed  to  round 
the  angles  both  of  calcareous  and  filiceous  fragments,  and  that  is,  their  folu- 
l>ility  in  water;  calcareous  earth  is  perpetually  found  fufpended  in  the  wa- 
ters which  pafs  over  it ;  and  the  earth  of  flints  was  obferved  by  Bergmari 
to  be  contained  in  water  in  the  proportion  of  one  grain  to  a  gallon.  Kir- 
wan's  Mineralogy,  p.  107.  In  boiling  water,  however,  it  is  foluble  in  much 
greater  proportion,  as  appears  from  the  Clicecus. earth  lublimed  in  the  dif- 
tillation  of  fluor  acid  in  glafs  veffels,  and  from  the  bafons  of  calcedony  which 
furroundcd  the  jets  of  hot  water  near  Mount  Hecla,  in  Icelarfd.  Troil  oh 
Iceland.  It  is  probable  moll  filiceous  fands  or  pebbles  have,  at  fome  ages  of 


ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  181 

the  world,  been  long  expofed  to  aqueous  fteams  raifed  by  fubterranean  fires. 
And  if  fragments  of  ftone  were  long  immerfed  in  a  fluid  menftruum,  their 
angular  parts  would  be  firft  diflblved,  on  account  of  their  greater  furface. 

Many  beds  of  filiceous  gravel  are  cemented  together  by  a  filiceous  cementj 
and  are  called  breccia,  as  the  plumb-pudding  {tones  of  Hartfordihire,  and 
the  walls  of  a  ftibterraneous  temple  excavated  by  Mr.  Curzon,  at  Hagley, 
hear  Rugely,  in  Staffordshire;  thefe  may  have  been  expofed  to  great  heat  as 
they  were  immerfed  in  water,  which  water,  under  great  preffure  of  fuper- 
incumbent  materials,  may  have  been  rendered  red-hot,  as  in  Papin's  digefter; 
and  have  thus  poffefled  powers  of  folution  with  which  we  are  unacquainted. 

BASALTES   AND    GRANITES. 

Another  fource  of  filiceous  ftones  is  from  the  granite,  or  bafaltes,  or  por- 
phyries, which  are  of  different  hardneifes,  according  to  the  materials  of  their 
compofition,  or  to  the  fire  they  have  undergone ;  fuch  are  the  {tones  of  Ar- 
thur's-hill,  near  Edinburgh;  of  the  Giant's  Caufeway,  in  Ireland;  and  of 
Charnwood  Foreft,  in  Leicefterihire ;  the  uppermoft  ilratum  of  which  laft 
feems  to  have  been  cracked  either  by  its  elevation,  or  by  its  haftily  cooling, 
after  ignition,  by  the  contact  of  dews  or  fnows,  and  thus  breaks  into  angu- 
lar fragments,  fuch  as  the  ftreets  of  London  are  paved  with,  or  have  had 
•their  angles  rounded  by  attrition,  or  by  partial  folution;  and  have  thus 
formed  the  common  paving  ftones,  or  bowlers,  as  well  as  the  gravel,  which 
is  often  rolled  into  flrata  amid  the  filiceous  fand-beds,  which  are  either 
formed  or  collected  in  the  fea. 

In  what  manner  fuch  a  mafs  of  cryftallized  matter  as  the  Giant's  Caufe- 
way, and  limilar  columns  of  bafaltes,  could  have  been  raifed  without  other 
volcanic  appearances,  may  be  a  matter  not  eafy  to  comprehend;  but  there 
is  another  power  in  nature  befides  that  of  expanfile  vapour,  which  may  have 
raifed  fome  materials  which  have  previoufly  been  in  igneous  or  aqueoua  fo- 
lution; and  that  is  the  act  of  congelation.  "When  the  water,  in  the  experi- 
ments above  related  of  Major  Williams,  had,  by  congelation,  thrown  out 
the  plugs  from  the  bomb-fhells,  a  column  of  ice  rofe  from  the  hole  of  the 
bomb  fix  or  eight  inches  high.  Other  bodies,  I  fufpect,  increafe  in  bulk, 
which  cryftallize  in  cooling,  as  iron  and  type-metal.  I  remember  pouring 
eight  or  ten  pounds  of  melted  brimftone  into  a  pot  to  cool,  and  was  fur* 
prized  to  fee,  after  a  little  time,  a  part  of  the  fluid  beneath  break  a  hole  in 
the  congealed  cruft  above  it,  and  gradually  rife  into  a  promontory  feveral 
inches  high;  the  bafaltes  has  many  marks  of  fufion  and  of  crystallization, 
and  may  thence,  as  well  as  many  other  kinds  of  rock,  as  of  fpar,  marble, 
petrofilex,  jafper,  &c.  have  been  raifed  by  the  power  of  congelation,  a  power 
whofe  quantity  has  not  yet  been  afcertained,  and,  perhaps,  greater  and  more 
univerfal  than  that  of  vapours  expanded  by  heat.  Thefe  bafaltic  columns 
rife  fometimes  out  of  mountains  of  granite  itfelf,  as  mentioned  by  Dr.  Bed- 
does,  (Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  LXXX.)  and  as  they  feem  to  confift  of  fimilar  ma- 
terials, more  completely  fufed,  there  is  {till  greater  reafon  to  believe 
them  to  have  been  elevated  in  the  cooling  or  crystallization  of  the  maf». 
See  not*  XXIV. 


BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 


NOTE  XX.— CLAY. 

Hence  ditfiile  Clays  In  ivlde  expanjlon  fpreadt 

Soft  as  the  Cygnet's  do-wn^  their  fiioiu-iuhite  bed.  CANTO  IT.  1.  277. 

THE  philofophers  who  have  attended  to  the  formation  of  the  earth,  have 
acknowledged  two  great  agents  in  producing  the  various  changes  which  the 
terraqueous  globe  has  undergone,  and  thefe  are  water  and  fire.  Some  of 
them  have,  perhaps,  afcribed  too  much  to  one  of  thefe  great  agents  of  na- 
ture, and  fome  to  the  other.  They  have  generally  agreed,  that  the  {Grati- 
fication of  materials  could  only  be  produced  from  fediments  or  precipita- 
tions, which  were  previoufly  mixed  or  diffolved  in  the  fea;  and  that  what- 
ever effects  were  produced  by  fire,  were  performed  afterwards. 

There  is,  however,  great  difficulty  in  accounting  for  the  univerfal  {Grati- 
fication of  the  folid  globe  of  the  earth  in  this  manner,  fince  many  of  the 
materials,  which  appear  in  ftrata,  could  not  have  been  fufpended  in  water;  as 
the  nodules  of  flint  in  chalk-beds,  the  extenfive  beds  of  {hells;  and,  laftly,  the 
ftrata  of  coal,  clay,  fand,  and  iron-ore,  which,  in  mofl  coal-countrks,  lie  from 
five  to  feven  times  alternately  ftratified  over  each  other,  and  none  of  them 
are  foluble  in  water.  Add  to  this,  if  a  folution  of  them,  or  a  mixture  of 
them  in  water,  could  be  fuppofed,  the  caufe  of  that  folution  muft  ceafe  be- 
fore a  precipitation  could  commence. 

1.  The  great  maffes  of  lava,  under  the  various  names  of  granite,  por- 
phyry, toad-ftone,  moor-flone,  rag,  and    flate,  which    conftitute   the    old 
world,  may  have  acquired  the  old  {Gratification,  which  feme  of  them  appear  to 
poffefs,  by  their  having  been  formed  by  fucceffive  eruptions  of  a  fluid  mafs, 
which,  at  different  periods  of  ancient  time,  arofe  from  volcanic  {hafts  and 
covered  each  other,  the  furface  of  the  interior  mafs  of  lava  would  cool,  and 
become  folid,  before  the  fuperincumbent  ftratum  was  poured  over  it;  to  the 
fame  caufe  may  be  afcribed  their  different  compofitions  and  textures,  which 
are  fcarcely  the  fame  in  any  two  parts  of  the  world. 

2.  The    {Gratifications   of  the  great  maffes   of  lime-ftone,  which  were 
produced  from  fea-fhclls,  feem  to  have  been  formed  by  the  different  times 
at  which  the  innumerable  {hells  were  produced  and  depofited.     A  colony  of 
echini,  or  madrepores,  or  cornua  ammonis,  lived  and  periflied  in  one  period 
of  time;  in  another,  a  new  colony  of  either  fimilar  or  different  {hells  lived  and 
died  over  the  former  ones,  producing  a  ftratum  of  more  recent  {hells  over  a 
ftratum  of  others  which  had  begun  to  petrify,  or  to  become  marble ;  and  thus, 
from  unknown  depths  to  what  are  now  the  fummits  of  mountains,  the 
lime-ftone  is  difpofed  in  ftrata  of  varying  folidity  and  colour.     Thefe  have 
afterwards  undergone  variety  of  changes  by  their  folution  and  depofition 
from  the  water  in  which  they  were  immerfed,  or  from  having  been  expofed 
to  great  heat  under  great  preffure,  according  to  tha  ingenious  theory  of  Dr. 
Hutton.     Edinb.  Tranfad.  vol.  I.     See  Note  XVL 

3.  In  moft  of  the  coal-countrieS  of  this  ifland,  there  are  from  five  to  feven 
beds  of  coal  ftratified,  with  an  equal  number  of  beds,  though  of  much  greater 


NOTE  XX.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  183 

thicknefs,  of  clay  and  fand-ftone,  and  occafionally  of  iron-ores.  In  what 
manner  to  account  for  the  {Gratification  of  thefe  materials  feems  to  be  a 
problem  of  great  difficulty.  Philosophers  have  generally  fuppofed  that 
they  have  been  arranged  by  the  currents  of  the  fea;  but  confidering  their 
infolubility  in  water,  and  their  almoft  fimilar  fpecific  gravity,  an  accumula- 
tion of  them  in  fuch  diftind:  beds  from  this  caufe  is  altogether  inconceivable, 
though  fome  coal-countries  bear  marks  of  having  been,  at  fome  time,  im- 
merfed  beneath  the  waves,  and  raifed  again  by  fubterranean  fires. 

The  higher  and  lower  parts  of  morafles  were  neceffarily  produced  at  dif- 
ferent periods  of  time,  fee  Note  XVII.  and  would  thus  originally  be  formed 
in  ftrata  of  diiferent  ages.  For  when  an  old  wood  periihed,  and  produced  a 
morafs,  many  centuries  would  elapfe  before  another  wood  could  grow,  and 
perifh  again,  upon  the  fame  ground,  which  would  thus  produce  a  new  ftra- 
tum  of  morafs  over  the  other,  differing,  indeed,  principally  in  its  age,  and, 
perhaps,  as  the  timber  might  be  different,  in  the  proportion  of  its  compo- 
nent parts. 

Now,  if  we  fuppofe  the  lowermoft  ftratum  of  a  morafs  become  ignited, 
like  fermenting  hay  (after  whatever  could  be  carried  away  by  folution  in 
water  was  gone),  what  would  happen  ?  Certainly  the  inflammable  part,  the 
oil,  fulphur,  or  bitumen,  would  burn  away,  and  be  evaporated  in  air;  and 
the  fixed  parts  would  be  left,  as  clay,  lime,  and  iron ;  while  fome  of  the  cal- 
careous earth  would  join  with  the  filiceous  acid,  and  produce  fand;  or  with 
the  argillaceous  earth,  and  produce  marl.  Thence,  after  many  centuries, 
another  bed  would  take  fire,  but  with  lefs  degree  of  ignition,  and  with  a, 
greater  body  of  morafs  over  it;  what  then  would  happen  ?  The  bitumen  and 
fulphur  would  rife,  and  might  become  condenfed  under  an  impervious  ftra- 
tum, which  might  not  be  ignited,  and  there  form,  coal  of  different  purities, 
according  to  its  degree  of  fluidity,  which  would  permit  fome  of  the  clay  to 
fubfide  through  it  into  the  place  from  which  it  was  fublimed. 

Some  centuries  afterwards  another  fimilar  procefs  might  take  place,  and 
cither  thicken  the  coal-bed,  or  produce  a  new  clay-bed,  or  marl,  or  fand, 
or  depofit  iron  upon  it,  according  to  the  concomitant  circumftances  above- 
mentioned. 

I  do  not  mean  to  contend,  that  a  few  mafles  of  fome  materials  may  not 
have  been  rolled  together  by  currents,  when  the  mountains  were  much  more 
elevated  than  at  prefent,  and,  in  confequence,  the  rivers  broader  and  more 
rapid,  and  the  ftorms  of  rain  and  wind  greater  both  in  quantity  and  force. 
Some  gravel-beds  may  have  been  thus  wafhed  from  the  mountains;  and 
fome  white  clay  wafhed  from  morafles  into  valleys  beneath  them;  and  fome 
ochres  of  iron  diffolved  and  again  depofited  by  water;  and  fome  calcareous 
depofitions  from  water  (as  the  bank,  for  inftance,  on  which  ftand  the  houfes 
at  Matlock-bath);  but  thefe  are  all  of  fmall  extent  or  confequence  compared 
to  the  primitive  rocks  of  granite  or  porphyry  which  form  the  nucleus  of  the 
earth,  or  to  the  immenfe  ftrata  of  limc-ftone  which  cruft  over  the  greateft 
part  of  this  granite  or  porphyry;  or,  laftly,  to  the  very  extenfive  beds  of 
clay,  marl,  fand-ftone,  coal,  and  iron,  which  were  probably  for  many  mil* 
lions  of  years  the  only  parts  of  our  continents  and  iflands,  which  were  then 


184  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

elevated  above  the  level  of  the  fea,  and  which,  on  that  account,  became 
covered  with  vegetation,  and  thence  acquired  their  later  or  fuperincumbent 
flrata,  which  conftitute  what  fome  have  termed  the  new  world. 

There  is  another  fource  of  clay,  and  that  of  the  fineft  kind,  from  decom- 
pofed  granite;  this  is  of  a  fnowy  white,  and  mixed  with  fhining  particles  of 
mica;  of  this  kind  is  an  earth  from  the  country  of  Cherokees.  Other  kinds 
fire  from  lefs  pure  lavas ;  Mr.  Ferber  afierts  that  the  fulphurous  fleams  from 
Mount  Vefuvius  convert  the  lava  into  clay. 

"  The  lavas  of  the  ancient  Solfatara  volcano  have  been  undoubtedly  of  a 
vitreous  nature,  and  thefe  appear  at  prefent  argillaceous.  Some  fragments 
of  this  lava  are  but  half,  or  at  one  fide  changed  into  clay,  which  either  is 
vifcid  or  du&ile,  or  hard  and  ftony.  Clays,  by  fire,  are  deprived  of  their 
coherent  quality,  which  cannot  be  reftored  to  them  by  pulverisation,  nor  by 
numeration.  But  the  fulphureous  Solfatara  fleams  reftore  it,  as  may  be 
eafily  obferved  on  the  broken  pots  wherein  they  gather  the  fal  ammoniac; 
though  very  well  baked  and  burnt  at  Naples,  they  are  mollified  again  by 
the  acid  fleams  into  a  vifcid  clay,  which  keeps  the  former  fire-burnt  colour/* 
Travels  in  Italy,  p.  156. 


NOTE  XXI.-ENAMELS. 

Smeared  her  huge  dragons  tvitb  metallic  huesy 

With  golden  purples  y  and  cobaltic  blues.  CANTO  II.  1.  287, 

THE  fine  bright  purples  or  rofe  colours  which  we  fee  on  china  cups,  aro 
Mot  producible  with  any  other  material  except  gold;  manganefe  indeed  gives 
a  purple,  but  of  a  very  different  kind. 

In  Europe,  the  application  of  gold  to  thefe  purpofes,  appears  to  be  of  mo- 
dern invention.  Caffius's  difcovery  of  the  precipitate  of  gold  by  tin,  and 
the  ufe  of  that  precipitate  for  colouring  glafs  and  enamels,  are  now  gene- 
rally known ;  but  though  the  precipitate  with  tin  be  more  fuccefsful  in  pro~ 
clucing  the  ruby  glafs,  or  the  colourlefs  glafs,  which  becomes  red  by  fub- 
fequent  ignition,  the  tin  probably  contributing  to  prevent  the  gold  from 
feparating  (which  it  is  very  liable  to  do  during  the  fufion);  yet,  for  ena- 
mels, the  precipitates  made  by  alkaline  falts  anfwer  equally  well,  and  give 
a  finer  red;  the  colour  produced  by  the  tin  precipitate  being  a  bluifh  purple, 
but  with  the  others  a  rofe  red.  I  am  informed  that  fome  of  our  befl  artifts 
prefer  aurum  fulminans,  mixing  it,  before  it  has  become  dry,  with  the  white 
compofition,  or  enamel  flux;  when  once  it  is  divided  by  the  other  matter, 
it  is  ground  with  great  fafety,  and  without  the  leafl  danger  of  explofion, 
whether  moifl  or  dry.  The  colour  is  remarkably  improved  and  brought 
forth  by  long  grinding,  which  accordingly  makes  an  effential  circumflancc 
in  the  procefe. 

The  precipitates  of  gold,  and  the  colcothar,  or  other  red  preparations  of 
iron,  are  called  tender  colours.  The  heat  muft  be  no  greater  than  \%  jujl 


NOTE  XXI.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  185 

fufficient  to  make  the  enamel  run  upon  the  piece,  for  if  greater,  the  colours 
will  be  deftroyed  or  changed  to  a  different  kind.  When  the  vitreous  matter 
has  juft  become  fluid,  it  feems  as  if  the  coloured  metallic  calx  remained  barely 
intermixed  with  it,  like  a  coloured  powder  of  exquifite  tenuity  fufpended  in 
water;  but  by  ftronger  fire  the,  calx  is  dij/ol>ued,  and  metallic  colours  are 
altered  byfolution  in  glafs,  as  well  as  in  acids  or  alkalies. 

The  Saxon  mines  have,  till  very  lately,  almoft  exclufively  fupplied  the 
reft  of  Europe  with  cobalt,  or  rather  with  its  preparations,  zaffre  and  fmalt, 
for  the  exportation  of  the  ore  itfelf  is  there  a  capital  crime.  Hungary, 
Spain,  Sweden,  and  fomc  other  parts  of  the  continent,  are  now  faid  to  afford 
cobalts  equal  to  the  Saxon,  and  fpecimens  have  been  difcovered  in  our  own 
ifland,  both  in  Cornwall  and  in  Scotland,  but  hitherto  in  no  great  quantity. 

Calces  of  cobalt  and  of  copper  differ  very  materially  from  thofe  above* 
mentioned  in  their  application  for  colouring  enamels.  In  thofe  the  calx  has 
previoufly  acquired  the  intended  colour,  a  colour  which  bears  a  red  heat 
without  injury,  and  all  that  remains  is  to  fix  it  on  the  piece  by  a  vitreous 
fiux.  But  the  blue  colour  of  cobalt,  and  the  green  or  bluilh  green  of  cop- 
per, are  produced  by  vitrification,  that  is,  by  folution  in  the  glafs,  and  a  ftrong 
fire  is  neceffary  for  their  perfection.  Thefe  calces,  therefore,  when  mixed 
with  the  enamel  flux,  are  melted  in  crucibles,  once  or  oftener,  and  the 
deep  coloured  opake  glafs,  thence  refulting,  is  ground  into  impalpable  pow- 
der, and  ufed  for  enamel.  One  part  of  eitheiiof  thefe  calces  is  put  to  ten, 
fixteen,  or  twenty  parts  of  the  flux,  according  to  the  depth  of  colour  required. 
The  heat  of  the  enamel-kiln  is  only  a  full  red,  fuch  as  is  marked  on  Mr. 
Wedgwood's  thermometer  6  degrees.  It  is  therefore  neceffary  that  the  flux 
be  fo  adjufted  as  to  melt  in  that  low  heat.  The  ufual  materials  are  flint, 
or  flint-glafs,  with  a  due  proportion  of  red-led,  or  borax,  or  both,  and  fome- 
times  a  little  tin  calx  to  give  opacity. 

Ka-o-lin  is  the  name  given  by  the  Chinefe  to  their  porcelain  clay,  and 
pe-tun-tfc  to  the  other  ingredient  in  their  China  ware.  Specimens  of  both 
thefe  have  been  brought  into  England,  and  found  to  agree  in  quality  with 
fome  of  our  own  materials.  Kaolin  is  the  very  fame  with  the  clay  called 
in  Cornwall  and  the  petuntfe  is  a  granite  fimilar  to  the  Cornifh 

moor-ftone.  There  are  differences,  both  in  the  Chinefe  petuntfes,  and  the 
Englifh  moor-ftones;  all  of  them  contain  micaceous  and  quartzy  particles, 
in  greater  or  lefs  quantity,  along  with  feltfpat,  which  laft  is  the  effential 
ingredient  for  the  porcelain  manufactory.  The  only  injurious  material  com- 
monly found  in  them  is  iron,  which  difcolours  the  ware  in  porportion  to  its 
quantity,  and  which  our  moor-ftones  are,  perhaps,  more  frequently  tainted 
with  than  the  Chinefe.  Very  fine  porcelain  has  been  made  from  Englifh  mate- 
rials, but  the  nature  of  the  manufa-fiure  renders  the  procefs  precarious  and, 
the  profit  hazardous ;  for  the  fernl-vitrification,  which  conftitutes  porcelain, 
is  neceffarily  accompanied  with  a  degree  of  foftnefs  or  femi-fufion,  fo  that 
the  veffels  are  liable  to  have  their  forms  altered  in  the  kiln,  or  to  run 
jher  with  any  accidental  augmentations  of  the  fire. 


PART  I.  2  B 


1 86  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I, 


NOTE  XXII.— PORTLAND  VASE.    • 

Or  hid  Mortality  rejoice  and  mourn 

O'er  the Jinc  forms  on  Portland's  myjlic  urn.  CANTO  II.  1.  3*9* 

THE  celebrated  funeral  vafe,  long  in  pofleffion  of  the  Barberini  family, 
and  lately  purchafed  by  the  Duke  of  Porland  for  a  thoufand  guineas,  is 
about  ten  inches  high,  and  fix  in  diameter  in  the  broadeft  part.  The  figuiea 
are  of  moft  exquiflte  workman  {hip  in  has  relief,  of  white  opake  glafs,  raifed 
on  a  ground  of  deep  blue  glafs,  which  appears  black,  except  when  held 
againfl  the  light.  Mr.  Wedgwood  is  of  opinion,  from  many  circumftances, 
that  the  figures  have  been  made  by  cutting  away  the  external  cruft  of  white 
opake  glafs,  in  the  manner  the  finefl  cameos  have  been  produced,  and  that 
it  muft  thence  have  been  the  labour  of  a  great  many  years.  Some  antiqua- 
rians have  placed  the  time  of  its  production  many  centuries  before  the  chrif- 
tian  sera,  as  fculpture  was  faid  to  have  been  declining,  in  refpe«5l  to  its  ex- 
cellence, in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great.  See  an  account  of  the  Bar- 
berini, or  Portland  vafe,  by  M.  D'Hancarville,  and  by  Mr.  Wedgwood. 

Many  opinions  and  conj eiShires  have  been  publifhed' concerning  the  figures 
on  this  celebrated  vafc.  Having  carefully  examined  one  of  Mr.  Wedg- 
wood's beautiful  copies  of  this  wonderful  production  of  art,  I  lhall  add  one 
more  conjecture  to  the  number. 

Mr.  Wedgwood  has  well  obferved,  that  it  does  not  feem  probable  that 
the  Portland  vafe  was  purpofely  made  for  the  afhes  of  any  particular  perfon 
deceafed,  becaufe  many  years  muft  have  been  neceflary  for  its  production. 
Hence  it  may  be  concluded,  that  the  fubjecl  of  its  embellilhments  is  not 
private  hiftory,  but  of  a  general  nature.  This  fubjecT:  appears  to  me  to  be 
well  chofen,  and  the  flory  to  be  finely  told ;  and  that  it  reprefents  what  in 
ancient  times  engaged  the  attention  of  philofophers,  poets,  and  heroes ;  I 
mean  a  part  of  the  Eleufmian  myfteries. 

Thefe  myfteries  were  invented  in  Egypt,  and  afterwards  transferred  to 
Greece,  and  flourifhed  more  particularly  at  Athens,  which  was,  at  the  fames 
time,  the  feat  of  the  fine  arts.  They  confifted  of  fcenical  exhibitions,  re- 
prefenting  and  inculcating  the  expectation  of  a  future  life  after  death,  and,  on 
this  account,  were  encouraged  by  the  government,  in  fo  much  that  the  Athe- 
nian laws  puniftied  a  difcovery  of  then:  fecre'ts  with  death.  Dr.  Warbur- 
ton  has,  with  great  learning  and  ingenuity,  fhewn,  that  the  defcent  of  ./Eneas 
into  hell,  defcribed  in  the  iixth  Book  of  Virgil,  is  a  poetical  account  of  the 
reprefentations  of  the  future  ftate  in  the  Eleufinian  myfteries.  Divine  Le- 
gation, vol.  I.  p.  aio, 

And  though  fome  writers  have  differed  in  opinion  from  Dr.  Warburton 
on  this  fubjecT:,  becaufe  Virgil  has  introduced  fome  of  his  own  heroes  into 
the  Elyfian  fields,  as  Deiphobus,  Palinurus,  and  Dido,  in  the  fame  manner 
as  Homer  had  done  before  him ;  yet  it  is  agreed,  that  the  received  notions 
about  a  future  ftate  were  exhibited  in  thefe  myfteries  ;  and  as  theTe  poets 
defcribed  thofe  received  notions,  they  may  be  faid,  as  far  as  thefe  religious 
doctrines  were  concerned,  to  have  defcribed  the  myfteries. 


ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  187 

Now,  as  thefe  were  emblematic  exhibitions,  they  rnuft  have  been  as  well 
adapted  to  the  purpofes  of  fculpture  as  of  poetry,  which,  indeed,  does  not 
feem  to  have  been  uncommon,  fince  one  compartment  of  figures  in  the 
{hield  of  jEneas  reprefented  the  regions  of  Tartarus.  ./En.  Lib.  X.  The 
proceflion  of  torches,  which,  according  to  M.  De  St.  Croix,  was  exhibited  in 
thefe  myfteries,  is  {till  to  be  feen  in  baffo  relieVo,  difccvered  by  Spon  and 
Wheler.  Memoires  fur  le  Myfteres  par  De  St.  Croix.  1784.  And  it  is 
very  probable  that  the  beautiful  gem  reprefenting  the  marriage  of  Cupid 
and  Pfyche,  as  defcribed  by  Ajpuleus,  was  originally  defcriptive  of  another 
part  of  the  exhibitions  in  thefe  myfleries,  though  afterwards  it  became  a 
common  fubjed  of  ancient  art.  See  Divine  Legat.  Vol.  I.  p.  323.  What 
fubjed:  could  have  been  imagined  fo  fublime  for  the  ornaments  of  a  funeral 
urn,  as  the  mortality  of  all  things,  and  their  refufcitation  ?  Where  could 
the  dcfigner  be  fupplied  with  emblems  for  this  purpofe,  before  the  Chriftian 
•Era,  but  from  the  Eleufinian  myfteries? 

I.  The  exhibitions  of  the  myfteries  were  of  two  kinds — thofe  which  the 
people  were  permitted  to  fee,  and  thofe  which  were  only  {hewn  to  the  ini- 
tiated. Concerning  the  latter,  Ariftides  calls  them  "  the  moft  mocking  and 
moft  ravifhing  reprefentations."  And  Stoboeus  afierts,  that  the  initiation^ 
into  the  grand  myfteries  exactly  refembles  death.  Divine  Legat.  vol.  I.  p. 
280,  and  p.  27 a.  And  Virgil,  in  his  entrance  to  the  {hades  below,  amongft 
other  things  of  terrible  form,  mentions  death,  JEn.  VI.  This  part  of  the 
exhibition  feems  to  be  reprefented  in  one  of  the  compartments  of  the  Port- 
land vafe. 

Three  figures  of  exquifite  workmanfhip  are  placed  by  the  fide  of  a  ruined 
column,  whofe  capital  is  fallen  off,  and  lies  at  their  feet  with  other  disjointed 
{lones;  they  fit  on  loofe  piles  of  ftone,  beneath  a  tree,  which  has  not  the 
leaves  of  any  evergreen  of  this  climate,  but  may  be  fuppofed  to  be  an  elm, 
which  Virgil  places  near  the  entrance  of  the  infernal  regions,  and  adds,  that 
a  dream  was  believed  to  dwell  under  every  leaf  of  it.  ./En.  VI.  1.  281.  In 
the  midft  of  this  group  reclines  a  female  figure  in  a  dying  attitude,  in  which 
extreme  languor  is  beautifully  reprefented;  in  her  hand  is  an  inverted  torch, 
an  ancient  emblem  of  extinguifhed  life;  the  elbow  of  the  fame  arm  refting 
on  a  ftone,  fupports  her  as  {he  finks,  while  the  other  hand  is  raife'd,  and 
thrown  over  her  drooping  head,  in  fome  meafure  fuftaining  it,  and  gives, 
with  great  art,  the  idea  of  fainting  laflitudjea  On  the  right  of  her  fits  a 
man,  and  on  the  left  a  woman,  both  fupporting  themfelves  on  their  arms, 
as  people  are  liable  to  do  ,when  they  are  thinking  intenfely.  They  have 
their  backs  towards  the  dying  figure,  yet  with  their  faces  turned  toward* 
her,  as  if  ferioufly  contemplating  her  fituation,  but  without  ftretching  out 
their  hands  to  affifl  her. 

This  central  figure,  then,  appears  to  me  to  be  an  hieroglyphic,  or  Eleufi- 
nian  emblem  of  MORTAL  LIFE,  that  is,  the  lethum,  or  death,  mentioned  by 
Virgil  amongft  the  terrible  things  exhibited  at  the  beginning  of  the  myfte- 
ries. The  inverted  torch  fhews  the  figure  to  be  emblematic;  if  it  had  been 
defigned  to  reprefent  a  real  perfon  in  the  a6t  of  dying,  there  had  been  no 
aeceffity  for  the  expiring  torch,  as  the  dying  figure  alone  would  have  been 


i8fl       ,  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART?, 

fufficiently  intelligible  ; — it  would  have  been  as  abfurd  as  to  have  put  an  in<* 
verted  torch  into  the  hand  of  a  real  perfcn  at  the  time  of  his  expiring.  Be- 
fides,  if  this  figure  had  reprefented  a  real  dying  perfon,  -would  not  the  other 
figures,  or  one  of  them  at  leaft,  have  ftretchtd  out  a  hand  to  fupport  her, 
to  have  eafed  her  fall  among  loofe  flones,  or  to  have  fmoothed  her  pillow  ? 
Thefe  circumftances  evince  that  the  figure  is  an  emblem,  and,  therefore, 
could  not  be  a  reprefentation  of  the  private  hiftory  of  any  particular  family 
or  event, 

The  man  and  woman  on  each  fide  of  the  dying  figure  muft  be  confidered 
as  emblems,  both  from  their  fimilarity  of  fituation  and  drefs  to  the  middle 
figure,  and  their  being  grouped  along  with  it.  Thefe,  I  think,  are  hierogly- 
phic or  Eleufinian  emblems  of  HUMANKIND,  with  their  backs  toward  the  dy- 
ing figure  of  MokTAL  LIFE,  unwilling  to  affociate  with  her,  yet  turning  back 
their  ferious  and  attentive  countenances,  curious  indeed  to  behold,  yet  forry 
to  contemplate  their  latter  end.  Thefe  figures  bring  ffcrongly  to  one's  mind 
the  Adam  and  Eve  of  facred  writ,  whom  fome  have  fuppofed  to- have  been 
allegorical  or  hieroglyphic  perfons  of  Egyptian  origin,  but  of  more  ancient 
date;  amongft  whom,  I  think,  is  Dr.  Warburton.  According  to  this  opi-- 
nion,  Adr.m  and  Eve  were  the  names  of  two  hieroglyphic  figures,  reprefent- 
ing  the  early  ftate  of  mankind ;  Abel  was  the  name  of  an  hieroglyphic  fi- 
gure, reprefenting  the  age  of  pafturage ',  and  Cain,  the  name  of  another  hie- 
roglyphic fymbol,  reprefenting  the  age  of  agriculture ;  at  which  time  the  ufes 
of  iron  were  discovered.  And  as  the  people  who  cultivated  the  earth,  arid' 
built  houfes,  would  increafe  in  numbers  much  fafter  by  their  greater  pro- 
duction of  food,  they  would  readily  conquer  or  deftroy  the  people  who  were 
fuftained  by  pafturage,  which  was  typified  by  Cain  flaying  Abel. 

2.  On  the  other  compartment  of  this  celebrated  vafe,  is  exhibited  an  em- 
blem of  immortality,  the  reprefentation  of  which  was  well  known  to  con-' 
ftitute  a  very  principal  part  of  the  fhews  at  the  Eleufinian  myfteries,  a* 
Dr.  Warburton  has  proved  by  variety  of  authority.  The  habitation  of  fpi- 
rits  or  ghofts,  after  death,  was  fuppofed  by  the  ancients  to  be  placed  beneath 
the  earth,  where  Pluto  reigned,  and  difpenfed  rewards  or  punifhments. 
Hence  the  firft  figure  in  this  group  is  of  the  MANES,  or  GHOST,  who,  hav- 
ing paffed  through  an  open  portal,  is  dcfceriding  into  a  dulky  region,  point- 
ing his  toe  with  timid  and  unftcady  ftcp,  feeling,  as  it  were,  his  way  in  the 
gloom.  This  portal  ./Eneas  ^WeYs,  which  is  defcribed  by  Virgil, — patet 
atri  janua  Ditis,  JEn.  VI.  1.  126;  as  well  as  the  eafy  dcfcent, — facilis  dc- 
fcenfus  Averni.  Ib.  The  darkncfs  at  the  entrance  to  the  fhades  is  humor- 
oufly  defcribed  by  Lucian.  Div.  Legat.  vol.  I.  p.  241.  And  th'e  horror  of 
the  gates  of  hell  was,  in  the  time  of  Homer,  become  a  proverb.  Achilles 
fays  to  Ulyffes,  "  I  hate  a  Ipr  worfe  than  the  gates  of  hell;"  the  fame  ex- 
prefiion  is  ufed  in  Ifaiah,  ch.  xxxviii.  v.  10.  The  MANES,  or  GHOST,  appears 
lingering  and  fearful,  and  wifhes  to  drag  after  him  a  part  of  his  mortal 
garment,  which,  however,  adheres  to  the  fide  of  the  portal  through  which 
he  has  paffed.  The  beauty  of  this  allegory  would  have  been  expreffed  by 
Mr.  Pope,  by  "  We  feel  the  ruling  paffion  ftrong  in  death." 

A  little  lower  down  in  the  group,  the  manes,  or  ghcfl,  is  received  by  » 


NOTE  XXII.-  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  189 

beautiful  female,  a  fymbol  of  IMMORTAL  LIFE.  This  is  evinced  by  her 
fondling  between  her  knees  a  large  and  playful  ferpent,  which,  from  its  an- 
nually renewing  its  external  ficin,  has,  from  great  antiquity,  even  as  early  as 
the  fable  of  Prometheus,  been  efteemed  an  emblem  of  renovated  youth. 
The  ftory  of  the  ferpent  acquiring  immortal  life  from  the  afs  of  Prome- 
theus, who  carried  it  on  his  back,  is  told  in  Bacon's  Works,  vol.  V.  p.  462. 
quarto  edit.  Lond.  1778.  For  a  fimilar  purpofe  a  ferpent  was  wrapped 
round  the  large  hieroglyphic  egg  in  the  temple  of  Diofcuri,  as  an  emblem, 
of  the  renewal  of  life  from  a  ftate  of  death.  Bryant's  Mythology,  vol.  II. 
P-.359-  fee.  edit.  On  this  account  alfo  the  ferpent  was  an  attendant  on 
-ffifculapius,  which  feems  to  have  been  the  name  of  the  hieroglyphic  figure 
of  medicine.  This  ferpent  fhews  this  figure  to  be  an  emblem,  as  the  torch 
Ihewed  the  central  T.gure  of  the  other  compartment  to  be  an  emblem;  hence 
they  agreeably  correfpond,  and  explain  each  other,  one  reprefenting  MOR- 
TAL LIFE,  and  the  other  IMMORTAL  LIFE. 

This  emblematic  figure  of  immortal  life  fits  down  with  her  feet  towards 
the  figure  of  Pluto,  but,  turning  back  her  face  towards  the  timid  ghoft,  (he 
ftretches  forth  her  hand,  and,  taking  hold  of  his  elbow,  fupports  his  totter- 
ing fteps,  as  well  as  encourages  him  to  advance,  both  which  circumftances 
are  thus,  with  wonderful  ingenuity,  brought  to  the  eye.  At  the  fame  time 
the  fpirit  loofely  lays  his  hand  upon  her  arm,  as  one  walking  in  the  dark 
would  naturally  do  for  the  greater  certainty  of  following  his  conductrefs; 
while  the  general  part  of  the  fymbol  of  IMMORTAL  LIFE,  being  turned  to- 
ward the  figure  of  Pluto,  fhews  that  Ihe  is  leading  the  phantom  to  his 
realms. 

In  the  Pamphili  gardens  at  Rome,  Perfeus,  in  aflifting  Andromeda  to  de- 
fcend  from  the  rock,  takes  hold  of  her  elbow  to  fteady  or  fupport  her  flep, 
and  fhe  lays  her  hand  loofely  en  his  arm,  as  in  this  fgure.  Admir.  Reman 
Antiq. 

The  fgure  of  PLUTO  can  not  be  miftaken,  as  it  is  agreed  by  moft  of  the 
writers  who  have  mentioned  this  vafe ;  his  grifley  beard,  and  his  having  one 
foot  buried  in  the  earth,  denote  the  infernal  monarch.  Ke  is  placed  at  the 
loweft  part  of  the  group,  and,  refting  his  chin  on  his  hand,  and  his  arm 
upon  his  knee,  receives  the  ftranger-fpirit  with  inquifitive  attention.  It  was 
before  obferved,  that  when  people  think  attentively,  they  naturally  reft 
their  bodies  in  feme  eafy -attitude,  that  more  animal  power  may  be  employed 
on  the  thinking  faculty.  In  this  group  of  figures  there  is  great  art  fhewn  in 
giving  an  idea  of  a  defcending  plain,  viz.  from  earth  to  Elyfium,  and  yet 
all  the  fgures  are,  in  reality,  on  a  horizontal  one.  This  wonderful  decep- 
tion is  produced,  frft,  by  the  defcending  ftep  of  the  manes,  or  ghoft;  fe- 
condly,  by  the  arm  of  the  fitting  figure  of  Immortal  Life  being  raifed  up  to 
receive  him  as  he  defcends ;  and,  laftly,  by  Pluto  having  one  foot  funk  into 
the  earth. 

There  is  yet  another  figure  which  is  concerned  in  conducting  the  manes, 
or  ghoft,  to  the  realms  of  Pluto,  and  this  is  LOVE.  He  precedes  the  defcend- 
ing fpirit  on  expanded  wings,  lights  him  with  his  torch,  and  turning  back 
his  beautiful  countenance,  beckons  him  to  advance.  The  ancient  God  of  love 


*9*  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

was  of  much  higher  dignity  than  the  modern  Cupid.  He  was  the  firft  that 
Came  out  of  the  great  egg  of  night,  (Hefiod.  Theog.  V.  CXX.  Briant's 
Mythol.  vol.  II.  p.  348.)  and  is  faid  to  pofiefs  the  keys  of  the  Iky,  fea,  and 
earth.  As  he,  therefore,  led  the  way  into  this  life,  he  feems  to  conftitute  a 
proper  emblem  for  leading  the  way  to  a  future  life.  See  Bacon's  works, 
vol.  I.  p.  568.  and  vol.  III.  p.  582.  quarto  edit. 

The  introduction  of  Love  into  this  part  of  the  myfteries  requires  a  little 
further  explanation.  The  Pfychc  of  the  Egyptians  was  one  of  their  moft, 
favourite  emblems,  and  represented  the  foul,  or  a  future  life ;  it  was  origi- 
nally no  other  than  the  aurelia,  or  butterfly,  hut  in  after  time,  was  repre- 
fented  by  a  lovely  female  child,  with  the  beautiful  wings  of  that  infect.  The 
aurelia,  after  its  firft  ftage  as  an  eruca  or  caterpillar,  lies  for  a  feafon  in  a 
manner  dead,  and  is  inclofed  in  a  fort  of  coffin ;  in  this  {late  of  darkncfs  it 
remains  all  the  winter ;  but,  at  the  return  of  fpring,  it  burfts  its  bonds  and 
comes  out  with  new  life,  and  in  the  moft  beautiful  attire.  The  Egyptians 
thought  this  a  very  proper  picture  of  the  foul  of  man,  and  of  the  immor- 
tality to  which  it  afpired.  But  as  this  was  all  owing  to  divine  Love,  of 
which  EROS  was  an  emblem,  we  f;nd  this  perfon  frequently  introduced  as  a 
toncomitant  of  the  foul  in  general,  or  Pfyche.  (Bryant's  Mythol.  vol.  II. 
p.  386.)  EROS,  or  divine  Love,  is  for  the  fame  reafon  a  proper  attendant  on 
the  manes  or  foul  after  death,  and  much  contributes  to  tell  the  ftory,  that  is, 
to  fhew  that  a  foul  or  manes  is  defigned  by  the  defcending  ligure.  From 
this  figure  of  Love,  M.  D'Hancarville  imagines  that  Orpheus  and  Eurydicc 
are  typiticd  under  the  figure  of  the  manes,  and  immortal  life  as  above  de- 
fcribed.  It  may  be  fufficient  to  anfwer,  firft,  that  Orpheus  is  always  repre- 
fented  with  a  lyre,  of  Avhich  there  are  prints  of  four  different  gems  in 
Spence's  Polymetis,  and  Virgil  fo  defcribes  him,  JEn.  VI.  cythara  fretus. 
And  fecondiy,  that  it  is  abfurd  to  fuppofe  that  Eurydice  was  fondling  and 
playing  with  a  ferpent  that  had  {lain  her.  Add  to  this,  that  Love  feems  to 
have  been  an  inhabitant  of  the  infernal  regions,  as  exhibited  in  the  myfteries; 
for  Claudian,  who  treats  more  openly  of  the  Eleufmian  myfteries,  when 
they  were  held  in  lefs  veneration,  invokes  the  deities  to  difclofe  to  him 
their  fecrets,  and  ainongft  other  things,  by  what  torch  Love  foftens  Pluto. 

Dii,  quibits  in  numerum,    &c. 

J'rcs  miL'i  j'jcrarnin  penetralia  pan:liie  rerxm., 

£t  "jejlri  fccrcla  folit   qua  lai:tbadz  Diicm 

Flcxit  Amor. 

In  this  compartment  there  are  two  trees,  whofe  branches  fprcad  over  the 
figures :  one  of  them  has  1'moother  leaves,  like  fome  evergreens,  and  might 
thence  be  fuppofed  to  have  fome  allufion  to  immortality,  but  they  may 
perhaps  have  been  defigned  only  as  ornaments,  or  to  relieve  the  figures,  or 
becaufe  it  was  in  grcves,  where  thcfe  myfteries  were  originally  celebrated. 
Thus  Homer  {peaks  of  the  woods  of  Proferpine,  and  mentions  many  trees 
in  Tartarus,  as  prefenting  their  fruits  to  Tantalus;  Virgil  ipeaks  of  the 
pleafant  groves  of  Ely  Hum;  and  in  Spence's  Fclymetis  there  are  prints  of 
two  ancient  gems,  one  of  Orpheus  charming  Cerberus  with  his  lyre,  and 
the  other  of  HarcuJes  binding  him  in  a  cord;  each  of  th-em  {lauding  by  a 


NOTE  XXII.          ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  x9t 

tree.  Polymet.  p.  284.  As,  however,  thefe  trees  have  all  different  foliage  fe» 
clearly  marked  by  the  artift,  they  may  have  had  fpecific  meanings  in  the 
exhibitions  of  the  myfleries,  which  have  not  reached  pofterity :  of  this  kind, 
feem  to  have  been  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  and  the  tree  of 
life,  in  facred  writ,  both  which  muft  have  been  emblematic  or  allegorical. 
The  mafks,  hanging  to  the  handles  of  the  vafe,  feem  to  indicate  that  there 
is  a  concealed  meaning  in  the  figure?  befides  their  general  appearance.  And, 
the  prieftefs  at  the  bottom,  which  I  come  now  to  defcribe,  feems  to  ftievr 
this  concealed  meaning  to  be  of  the  facred  or  Eleufinian  kind. 

3.  The  figure  on  the  bottom  of  the  vafe,  is  on  a  larger  fcale  than  th<? 
others,  and  lefs  finely  finifhed,  and  lefs  elevated;  and,  as  this  bottom  part 
was  afterwards  cemented  to  the  upper  part,  it  might  be  executed  by  ano- 
ther artift,  for  the  fake  of  expedition  ;  but  there  feems  no  reafon  to  fuppofe 
that  it  was  not  originally  defigned  for  the  upper  part  of  it,  as  fome  have 
conjectured.  As  the  myfleries  of  Ceres  were  celebrated  by  female  prieffo, 
for  Porpliyrius  fays  the  ancients  called  the  priefceffes  of  Ceres,  Meliflai,  or 
bees,  which  were  emblems  of  chaftity,  Div.  Leg.  vol.  I.  p.  235.  and,  as 
in  his  Satire  againft  the  fex,  Juvenal  fays,  that  few  women  are  worthy  to 
be  prieilelfes  of  Ceres,  Sat.  VI.  the  figure  at  the  bottom  of  the  vafe  would 
fecrn  to  reprefent  a  PRIESTESS,  or  HIEROPHANT,  whofe  office  it  was  to  intro- 
duce the  initiated,  and  point  out  to  them,  and  explain  the  exhibitions  in  the 
myfleries,  and  to  exclude  the  uninitiated,  calling  out  to  them,  "Far,  far 
retire,  ye  profane !"  and  to  guard  the  fecrets  of  the  temple.  Thus  the  in- 
troduvStory  hymn  fung  by  the  hierophant,  according  to  Eufebius,  begins, 
"  I  will  declare  a  fecret  to  the  initiated,  but  let  the  doors  be  fhut  againft 
the  profane."  Div.  Leg.  vol.  1.  p.  177.  The  prieftefs  or  hierophant  ap- 
pears in  this  figure,  with  a  clofe  hood,  and  drefled  in  linen,  which  fits  clofe 
«ibout  her;  except  a  light  cloak,  which  flutters  in  the  wind.  "Wool,  as 
taken  from  flaughtered  animals,  was  eileemed  profane  by  the  priefts  of 
Egypt,  who  were  always  drefled  in  linen.  Apuleus,  p.  64.  Div.  Leg. 
vol.  I.  p.  318.  Thus  Eli  made  for  Samuel  a  linen  ephod.  Samuel  i.  3. 

Secrecy  was  the  foundation  on  which  all  myfleries  refted;  when  publicly 
known,  they  ceafed  to  be  myfleries;  hence  a  difcovery  of  them  was  not  only 
punifhed  with  death  by  the  Athenian  law,  but  in  other  countries  a  dilgrace 
attended  the  breach  of  a  folemn  oath.  The  prieftefs,  in  the  figure  before 
us,  has  her  finger  pointing  to  her  lips,  as  an  emblem  of  filence.  There  is 
a  figure  of  Harpocrates,  who  was  of  Egyptian  origin,  the  fame  as  Orus, 
with  the  lotus  on  his  head,  and  with  his  finger  pointing  to  his  lips,  not 
prefied  upon  them,  in  Bryant's  Mythol,  vol.  II.  p.  398.  and  another  female 
figure  ftanding  on  a  lotus,  as  if  juft  rifen  from  the  Nile,  with  her  finger  in 
the  fame  attitude;  thefe  feem  to  have  been  reprefentations  or  emblems  of 
male  and  female  priefts  of  the  fecret  myfteries.  As  thefe  forts  of  emblems 
were  frequently  changed  by  artifts  for  their  more  elegant  exhibition,  it  is 
poffible  the  foliage  over  the  head  of  this  figure  may  bear  fome  analogy  to 
the  lotus  above-mentioned. 

This  figure  of  fecrecy  feems  to  be  here  placed,  with  great  ingenuity,  as 
a  caution  to.the  initiated,  who  might  imderfland  the  meaning  of  the  em* 


tga  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

blems  round  the  vafe,  not  to  divulge  it.  And  this  circumftance  feems  to 
account  for  there  being  no  written  explanation  extant,  and  no  tradition  con- 
cerning thefe  beautiful  figures  handed  down  to  us  along  with  them. 

Another  explanation  of  this  figure,  at  the  bottom  of  the  vafe,  would  feem 
to  confirm  the  idea  that  the  baffo  relievos  round  its  fides  are  reprefentations 
of  a  part  of  the  myfteries;  I  mean  that  it  is  the  head  of  ATIS.  Lucian  fays 
that  Atis  Was  a  young  man  of  Phrygia,  of  uncommon  beauty;  that  he  dedi- 
cated a  temple  in  Syria  to  Rhea,  or  Cybele,  and  firft  taught  her  myfteries 
to  the  Lydians,  Phrygians,  and  Samothracians,  which  myfteries  he  brought 
from  India.  He  was  afterwards  made  an  eunuch  by  Rhea,  and  lived  like 
a  woman,  and  affumed  a  feminine  habit,  and  in  that  garb  went  over  the 
world,  teaching  her  ceremonies  and  myfteries.  Did:,  par  M.  Danet,  art. 
Atis.  As  this  figure  is  covered  with  clothes,  while  thofe  on  the  fides  of 
the  vafe  are  naked,  and  has  a  Phrygian  cap  on  the  head,  and  as  the  form 
and  features  are  fo  foft,  that  it  is  difficult  to  fay  whether  it  be  a  male  or 
female  figure,  there  is  reafon  to  conclude,  I.  That  it  has  reference  to  fome 
particular  perfon  of  fome  particular  country ;  a.  That  this  perfon  is  Atis, 
the  firft  great  hierophant,  or  teacher  of  myfteries,  to  whom  M.  De  la 
Chauffe  fays  the  figure  itfelf  bears  a  refemblance.  Mufeo.  Capitol.  Tom. 
IV.  p.  402. 

In  the  Mufeum  Etrufcum,  vol.  I.  plate  96,  there  is  the  head  of  Atis  with 
feminine  features,  clothed  with  a  Phrygian  cap,  and  rifing  from  very  broad 
foliage,  placed  on  a  kind  of  term,  fupported  by  the  paw  of  a  lion.  Goreus, 
in  his  explanation  of  the  figure,  fays  that  it  is  placed  on  a  lion's  foot  be- 
caufe  that  animal  was  facred  to  Cybele,  and  that  it  rifes  from  very  broad 
leaves,  becaufe  after  he  became  an  eunuch,  he  determined  to  dwell  in  the 
groves.  Thus  the  foliage,  as  well  as  the  cap  and  feminine  features,  confirm 
the  idea  of  this  figure  at  the  bottom  of  the  vafe,  reprefenting  the  head  of 
Atis,  the  firft  great  hierophant ;  and  that  the  figures  on  the  fides  of  the  vafe 
are  emblems  from  the  ancient  myfteries. 

I  beg  leave  to  add,  that  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  uncommon 
amongft  the  ancients,  to  put  allegorical  figures  on  funeral  vafes.  In  the 
Pamphili  palace  at  Rome,  there  is  an  elaborate  reprefentation  of  Life  and 
Death,  on  an  ancient  farcophagus.  In  the  firft  Prometheus  is  reprefented 
making  man,  and  Minerva  is  placing  a  butterfly,  or  the  foul,  upon  his  head. 
In  the  other  compartment,  Love  extinguifhes  his  torch  in  the  bofom  of  the 
dying  figure,  and  is  receiving  the  butterfly,  or  Pfyche,  from  him,  with  % 
great  number  of  complicated  emblematic  figures  grouped  in  very  bad  taftc. 
Admir,  Roman  Antic}. 


NOTE  XXIII.      ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  193 


NOTE  XXIII.— COAL, 

'     Hence  fable  Coal  his  maj]y  couch  extends, 

Andjlars  of  gold  the  fparkllng  Pyr:te  blends.  CANTO  II.  1.  349, 

TO  elucidate  the  formation  of  coal-beds,  I  Jfhall  here  defcribe  a  fountain 
of  foflil  tar,  or  petroleum,  difcovered  lately  near  Colebrook  Dale,  in  Shrop- 
Ihire,  the  particulars  of  which  were  fent  me  by  Dr.  Robert  Darwin,  of 
Shrew  fbury. 

About  a  mile  and  a  half  below  the  celebrated  iron-bridge,  conftructed  by 
the  late  Mr.  Darby,  near  Colebrook  Dale,  on  the  eaft  fide  of  the  river 
Severn,  as  the  workmen,  in  October,  1786,  were  making  a  fubterranean 
canal  into  the  mountain,  for  the  more  eafy  acquifition  and  conveyance  of  th« 
coals  which  lie  under  it,  they  found  an  oozing  of  liquid  bitumen,  or  petro-? 
leum;  and  as  they  proceeded  further,  cut  through  fmall  cavities  of  different 
fizes,  from  which  the  bitumen  iffued.  From  ten  to  fifteen  barrels  of  this 
fofiil  tar,  each  barrel  containing  thirty-two  gallons,  were  at  firft  collected 
in  a  day,  which  has  fince,  however,  gradually  diminifhed  in  quantity,  fa 
that  at  prefent  the  product  is  about  feven  barrels  in  fourteen  days. 

The  mountain  into  which  this  canal  enters,  confifls  of  filiceous  fand,  in 
which,  however,  a  few  marine  productions,  apparently  in  their  recent  ftate, 
have  been  found,  and  are  now  in  the  poffeffion  of  Mr.  William  Reynolds, 
of  Ketly  Bank.  About  three  hundred  yards  from  the  entrance  into  the 
mountain,  and  about  twenty-eight  yards  below  the  furface  of  it,  the  tar  i$ 
found  oozing  from  the  fand-rock  above,  into  the  top  and  fides  of  the  canal. 

Beneath  the  level  of  this  canal,  a  fliaft  has  been  funk  through  a  grey 
argillaceous  fubftance,  called,  in  this  country,  clunch,  which  is  faid  to  be  a 
pretty  certain  indication  of  coal ;  beneath  this  lies  a  ftratum  of  coal,  about 
two  or  three  inches  thick,  of  an  inferior  kind,  yielding  little  flame  in  burnr 
ing,  and  leaving  much  afh.es;  below  this  is  a  rock  of  a  harder  texture;  and 
beneath  this  are  found  coals  of  an  excellent  quality ;  for  the  purpofc  of  pro- 
curing which  with  greater  facility,  the  canal,  of  horizontal  aperture,  is  now 
making  into  the  mountain.  July,  1788. 

Beneath  thefe  coals  in  fome  places  is  found  fait  water ;  in  other  parts  of 
the  adjacent  country,  there  are  beds  of  iron-ftone,  which  alfo  contain  fome 
bitumen  in  a  lefs  fluid  ftate,  and  which  are  about  on  a  level  with  the  new 
canal,  into  which  the  foflil  tar  oozes,  as  above  defcribed. 

There  are  many  interefting  circumftances  attending  the  fituation  and  acr 
companiments  of  this  fountain  of  foflil  tar,  tending  to  develope  the  manner 
of  its  production.  I.  As  the  canal  pafilng  into  the  mountain  runs  over  the 
beds  of  coals,  and  under  the  refervoir  of  petroleum,  it  appears  that  a  natural 
tltjlillation  of  this  foflil,  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  muft  have  iaken  place  at 
fome  early  period  of  the  world,  fimilar  to  the  artificial  diftillation  of  coal, 
which  has  many  years  been  carried  on  in  this  place  on  a  fmaller  fcale  above 
ground.  When  this  refervoir  of  petroleum  was  cut  into,  the  flownefs  of  it$ 
exfudation  into  the  canal,  was  not  only  owing  to  its  vifcidity,  but  to  the 

PART  I,  2  C 


194  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

preffure  of  the  atmofphere,  or  to  the  neceflity  there  was  that  air  fhould  at 
the  fame  time  infmuate  itfelf  into  the  fmall  cavities  from  which  the  petro- 
leum defccnded.  The  exiftence  of  fuch  a  diftillation  at  fome  ancient  time* 
is  confirmed  by  the  thin  ftratum  of  coal  beneath  the  canal,  (which  covers 
the  hard  rock,)  having  been  deprived  of  its  foffil  oil,  fo  as  to  burn  without 
flame,  and  thus  to  have  become  a  natural  coak,  or  foflil  charcoal,  while  the 
petroleum  diftilled  from  it  is  found  in  the  cavities  of  the  rock  above  it. 

There  are  appearances  in  other  places,  which  favour  this  idea  of  the  natu- 
ral diftillation  of  petroleum:  thus,  at  Matlock,  inDerbyfhire,  a  hard  bitumen 
is  found  adhering  to  the  fpar  in  the  clefts  of  the  lime-rocks,  in  the  form  of 
round  drops  about  the  fize  of  peas;  which  could,  perhaps,  only  be  depofited 
there  in  that  form  by  fublimation. 

2.  The  fecond  deduction  w'hich  offers  itfelf  is,  that  thefe  beds  of  coal 
have  been  expofed  to  a  considerable  degree  of  /jeatt  fince  the  petroleum  above 
could  not  be  feparated,  as  far  as  we  know,  by  any  other  means,  and  that 
the  good  quality  of  the  coals  beneath  the  hard  rock,  was  owing  to  the  im- 
permeability of  this  rock  to  the  bituminous  vapour,  and  to  its  preffure  beinor 
too  great  to  permit  its  being  removed  by  the  elaflicity  of  that  vapour. 
Thus,  from  the  degree  of  heat,  the  degree  of  preffure,  and  the  permeability 
of  the  fuperincumbent  flrata,  many  of  the  phenomena  attending  coal-beds 
receive  an  eafy  explanation,  which  much  accords  with  the  ingenious  theory 
of  the  earth  by  Dr.  Hutton.  Tranf.  of  Edinb.  vol.  I. 

In  fome  coal  works,  the  fufion  of  the  flrata  of  coal  has  been  fo  light, 
that  there  remains  the  appearance  of  ligneous  fibres,  and  the  impreffion  of 
leaves,  as  at  Bovey,  near  Exeter,  and  even  feeds  of  vegetables,  of  which  I 
have  had  fpecimens  from  the  collieries  near  Polefworth,  in  Warwickfhire, 
In  fome,  where  the  heat  was  not  very  intenfe,  and  the  incumbent  ftratum 
not  permeable  to  vapour,  the  foffil  oil  has  only  rifen  to  the  upper  part  of 
the  coal-bed,  and  has  rendered  that  much  more  inflammable  than  the  lower 
parts  of  it,  as  in  the  collieries  near  Beaudefert,  the  feat  of  the  Earl  of  Ux- 
bridge,  in  Staffer  dfhire,  where  the  upper  ftratum  is  a  perfect  cannel,  or  can- 
dle-coal, and  the  lower  of  an  inferior  quality.  Over  the  coal-beds  near  Sir 
H.  Harpur's  houfc,  in  Derbyfhire,  a  thin  lamina  of  afphaltum  is  found  in 
fome  places  near  the  furface  of  the  earth,  which  would  feem  to  be  from  a 
diftillation  of  petroleum  from  the  coals  below,  the  more  fluid  part  of  which 
had,  in  procefs  of  time,  exhaled,  or  been  confolidatcd  by  its  abforption  of 
air.  In  other  coal-works  the  upper  part  of  the  ftratum  is  of  a  woife  kind 
than  the  lower  one,  as  at  Alfreton  and  Denbigh,  in  Derbyfhire,  owing  to 
the  fuperincumbent  ftratum  having  permitted  the  exhalation  of  a  great  part 
of  the  petroleum;  whilft  at  Widdrington,  in  Northumberland,  there  is  firft 
a  feam  of  coal  about  fix  inches  thick,  of  no  value,  which  lies  under  about 
four  fathom  of  clay ;  beneath  this  is  a  white  free-ftone,  then  a  hard  ftone, 
which  the  workmen  there  call  a  whin,  then  two  fathoms  of  clay,  then  ano- 
ther white  ftone,  and  under  that  a  vein  of  coals  three  feet  nine  inches  thick, 
of  a  fimilar  nature  to  the  Newcaftle  coal.  Phil.  Tranf.  Abridg.  vol.  VI. 
.plate  2,  p.  192.  The  fimilitude  between  the  circumftances  of  this  colliery, 
and  of  the  coal  beneath  the  fountain  of  tar  above  described,  renders  it 


NOTE  XXIII.          ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  19; 

highly  probable,  that  this  upper  thin  feam  of  coal  has  fuffered  a  fimilar  dif- 
tillation,  and  that  the  inflammable  part,  of  it  had  either  been  received  into, 
the  clay  above,  in  the  form  of  fulphur,  which,  when  burnt  in  the  open  air, 
would  produce  alum;  or  had  been  diflipated,  for  want  of  a  receiver,  where  it 
could  be  condenfed.  The  former  opinion  is,  perhaps,  in  this  cafe,  more  pro- 
bable, as  in  feme  other  coal-beds,  of  which  I  have  procured  accounts,  the 
furface  of  the  coal  beneath  clunch  or  clay  is  of  an  inferior  quality,  as  at  Weft 
Hallum,  in  Nottinghamlhire.  The  clunch  probably  from  hence  acquire* 
its  inflammable  part,  which,  on  calcination,  becomes  vitriolic  acid.  I  ga-, 
thered  pieces  of  clunch,  converted  partially  into  alum,  at  a  colliery  near  Bil- 
fton,  where  the  ground  was  ftill  on  fire  a  few  years  ago. 

The  heat,  which  has  thus  pervaded  the  beds  of  morafs,  feems  to  have 
been  the  effect  of  the  fermentation  of  their  vegetable  materials;  as  new- 
hay  fometimes  takes  fire,  even  in  fuch  very  fmall  maffes,  from  the  fugar  it 
contains,  and  feems,  hence,  not  to  have  been  attended  with  any  expulfion  of 
lava,  like  the  deeper  craters  of  volcanos  fituated  in  the  beds  of  granite. 

3.  The  marine  fliells  found  in  the  loofe  fand-rock,  above  this  refervoir  of 
petroleum,  and  the  coal-beds  beneath  it,  together  with  the  exiftence  of  fea-r 
fait  beneath  thefe  coals,  prove  that  thefe  coal-beds  have  been  at  the  bottom  of 
the  fsay  during  fome  remote  period  of  time,  and  were  afterwards  raifed  into 
their  prefent  fituation  by  fubterraneous  expanfions  of  vapour.  This  doc^ 
trine  is  further  fupported  by  the  marks  of  violence,  which  fome  coal-beds 
received  at  the  time  they  were  raifed  out  of  the  fea,  as  in  the  colleries  at  Men- 
dip,  in  Somerfetfhife.  In  thefe  are  feven  ftrata  of  coals,  equitant  upon 
each  other,  with  beds  of  clay  and  ftone  intervening;  amongft  which  clay 
are  found  fhells  and  fern  branches.  In  one  part  of  this  hill  the  ftrata  arc 
disjoined,  and  a  quantity  of  heterogeneous  fubftanccs  fill  up  the  chafm 
which  disjoins  them ;  on  one  fide  of  this  chafm  the  feveu  ftrata  of  coal  arc 
feen  correfponding,  in  refped:  to  their  reciprocal  thicknefs  and  goodnefs, 
with  the  feven  ftrata  on  the  other  fide  of  the  cavity,  except  that  they  have 
been  elevated  fever al  yards  higher.  Phil.  Tranf.  No.  360.  Abridg.  vol. 

v.  P.  237. 

The  cracks  in  the  coal-bed  near  Ticknall,  in  Derbyfhire,  and  in  the  fand* 
ftone  rock  over  it,  in  both  of  which  fpecimens  of  lead-ore  and  fpar  arc 
found,  confirm  this  opinion  of  their  having  been  forcibly  raifed  up  by  fub?- 
terraneous  fires.  Over  the  colliery  at  Brown-hills,  near  Lichfield,  there  is  a 
flratum  of  gravel  on  the  furface  of  the  ground,  which  may  be  adduced  as  ano- 
ther proof  to  fhew  that  thofe  coals  had  fome  time  been  beneath  the  fea,  or  the 
bed  of  a  river.  Neverthelefs,  thefe  arguments  only  apply  to  the  collieries 
above-mentioned,  which  are  few  compared  with  thofe  which  bear  no 
marks  of  having  been  immerfed  in  the  fea. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  production  of  coals  from  moraffes,  as  defcribed  in 
note  XX.  is  evinced  from  the  vegetable  matters  frequently  found  in  them\ 
and  in  the  ftrata  over  them ;  as  fern-leaves  in  nodules  of  iron-ore,  and  from 
the  bog-lhells,  or  frefh  water  mufcles,  fometimes  found  over  them,  of  both 
which  I  have  what  I  believe  to  be  fpecimens ;  and  is  further  proved,  from 
fome  parts  of  thefe  beds  being  only  in  part  transformed  to  coal;  and  the 


igS  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

other  part  flill  retaining  not  only  the  form,  but  fome  of  the  properties  of 
wood;  fpecimens  of  which  are  not  unfrequent  in  the  cabinets  of  the  curi- 
ous, procured  from  Loch  Neigh,  in  Ireland,  from  Bovcy,  near  Exeter,  and 
other  places ;  and  from  a  famous  cavern  called  the  Temple  of  the  Devil, 
near  the  town  of  Altorf,  in  Franconia,  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain  covered 
with  pine  and  favine,  in  which  are  found  large  coals  refembling  trees  of 
ebony;  which  are  fo  far  mineralized  as  to  be  heavy  and  compact;  and  fo 
to  efilorefce  with  pyrites  in  fome  parts  as  to  crumble  to  pieces;  yet  from 
other  parts  white  aflies  are  produced  on  calcination,  from  which  Jixtd  alkali 
is  procured;  which  evinces  their  vegetable  origin.  (Di6t.  Raifonne,  art. 
Charbon.)  To  thefe  may  be  added  another  argument,  from  the  oil  which 
Js  diflilled  from  coals,  and  which  is  analogous  to  vegetable  oil,  and  does 
inot  exift  in  any  bodies  truly  mineral.  Keir's  Chemical  Dictionary,  art. 
Bitumen. 

Whence  it  would  appear,-  that  though  moft  collieries,  with  their  attendant 
ftrata  of  clay,  fand-ftone,  and  iron,  were  formed  on  the  places  where  the 
vegetables  grew,  from  which  they  had  their  origin;  yet  that  other  collec- 
tions of  vegetable  matter  were  waihed  down  from  eminences,  by  currents 
of  waters,  into  the  beds  of  rivers,  or  the  neighbouring  feas,  and  were  there 
accumulated  at  different  periods  of  time,  and  underwent  a  great  degree  of 
heat,  from  their  fermentation,  in  the  fame  manner  as  thofe  beds  of  morafs 
which  had  continued  on  the  plains  where  they  were  produced.  And  that, 
by  this  fermentation',  many  of  them  had  been  raifed  from  the  ocean,  with 
fand  and  fea-fhells  over  them;  and  others  from  the  beds  of  rivers,  with  ac- 
cumulations of  gravel  upon  them. 

4.  For  the  purpofe  of  bringing  this  hiftory  of  the  products  of  morafies 
more  diftinclly  to  the  eye  of  the  reader,  I  {hall  here  fubjoin  two  or  three  ac- 
counts of  finking  or  boring  for  coals,  out  of  above  twenty,  which  I  have 
procured  from  various  places,  though  the  terms  are  not  very  intelligible, 
being  the  language  of  the  overfeers  of  coal-works. 

1.  JVLltfield  mine,  near  the  Pottery,  in  Staffordfhire.     Soil  I  foot,  brick- 
clay  3  feet,  fhale  4,  metal  which  is  hard  brown,  and  falls  in  the  weather, 
41,  coal  3,  warrant  clay  6,  brown  grit-ftone  36,  coal  3  v,  warrant  clay  3*, 
bafs  and  metal  53^,  hard-ftone  4,  fhaly  bafs  i|,  coal  4,  warrant  clay  depth 
unknown;  in  all  about  55  yards. 

2.  Coal-mine  at  Alfreion^  in  Derbyfliire.     Soil  and  clay  7  feet,  fragments  of 
fione  9,  bind-I3,  ftone  6,  bind  34,  ftone  5,  bind  2,  Hone  2,  bind  10,  coal  ly, 
bind  I  y,  ftone  37,  bind  7,  foft  coal  3,  bind  3,  ftone  20,  bind  16,  coal  7;; 
in  all  about  61  yards. 

3.  A  lajjcl  coal-mine  at  Woolarion^  in  Nottlnghamfhire.     Sand  and  gravel  6 
feet,  bind  21,  ftone  IO,  fmut  or  effete  coal  I,  clunch  4,  bind  21,  ftone  18, 
bind  18,  ftone-bind   15,  foft   coal  2,  clunch  and  bind  21,  coal   /;  in  all 
about  48  yards. 

4.  Coal-mine  at  IVe^-IIallam,  in  Nottinghamfhire.     Soil  and  clay  7  feet, 
bind  48,  fmut  I*,  clunch  4,  bind  3,  ftone  a,  bind  I,  ftone  I,  bind  3,  ftone 
I,  bind  1 6,  fhnle  2,  bind  12,  fhale  3,  clunch,  ftone,  and  a  bed  of  cank,  54, 
foft  coal  4,  clay  and -dun  I,  foft  coal  4},  clunch  and  bind  2f,  coal  I,  broad 
bind  26,  hard  coal  6 ;  in  all  about  74  yards. 


KOTE  XXIV.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  197 

As  thcfe  ftrata  generally  lie  inclined,  I  fuppofe,  parallel  with  the  lime- 
ftone  on  which  they  reft,  the  upper  edges  of  them  all  come  out  to  day, 
which  is  termed  baffetting ;  when  the  whole  mai's  was  iginited  by  its  fer- 
mentation, it  ie  probable  that  the  inflammable  part  of  fome  ftrata  might 
thus  more  eafily  efcape  than  of  others,  in  the  form  of  vapour,  as  dews  are 
known  to  flide  between  fuch  ftrata  in  the  production  of -fprings;  which  ac» 
counts  for  fome  coal-beds  being  fo  much  worfe  than  others.  See  note  XX, 

From  this  account  of  the  production  of  co-als  from  moraifss-,  it  would  ap- 
pear, that  coal-beds  are  not  to  be  expected  beneath  maffes  of  lime-ftone. 
Neverthelefs,  I  have  been  lately  informed  by  my  friend,  Mr.  Michel,  of 
Thornhill,  who,  I  hope,  will  foon  favour  the  public  with  his  geological 
investigations,  that  the  beds  of  chalk  are  the  uppermoft  of  all  the  lime- 
ftones;  and  that  they  reft  on  the  granulated  lime-ftone,  called  ketton-ftone; 
which,  I  fuppofe,  is  fimilar  to  that  which  covers  the  whole  country  from 
IjCadenham  to  Sleaford,  and  from  Sleaford  to  Lincoln;  and  that,  thirdly, 
coal-dclphs  are  frequently  found  beneath  thefe  two  uppermoft  beds  of  lime* 
ft  one. 

Now,  as  the  beds  of  chalk,  and  of  granulated  lime-ftone  may  have  been 
formed  by  alluviation,  on  or  beneath  the  fhores  of  the  fea,  or  in  vailies  of 
the  land,  it  would  feem,  that  fome  coal-countries,  which,  in  the  great  com- 
motions of  the  earth,  had  been  funk  beneath  the  water,  were  thus  covered 
with  alluvial  lime-ftone,  as  well  as  others  with  alluvial  bafaltes,  or  com- 
mon gravel-beds.  Very  extenfive  plains,  which  now  confift  of  alluvial  ma- 
terials, were,  in  the  early  times,  covered  with  water,  which  has  fmce  di- 
minifhed,  as  the  folid  parts  of  the  earth  have  increafcd.  For  the  folid  parts 
of  the  earth,  confiding  chiefly  of  animal  and  vegetable  recrements,  mufl 
have  originally  been  formed  or  produced  from  the  water,  by  animal  and 
vegetable  proceffes;  and  as  the  folid  parts  of  the  earth  may  be  fuppofed  to 
be  thrice  as  heavy  as  water,  it  follows,  that  thrice  the  quantity  of  water 
muft  have  vanifhed,  compared  with  the  quantity  of  earth  thus  produced. 
This  may  account  for  many  immenfe  beds  of  alluvial  materials,  as  gravel, 
rounded  fand,  granulated  lime-ftone,  and  chalk,  covering  fuch  extenfive 
plains  as  Lincoln-heath,  having  become  dry  without  the  fuppofition  of  their 
having  been  again  elevated  from  the  ocean.  At  the  fame  time  we  acquire 
the  knowledge  of  one  of  the  ufes  or  final  caufes  of  the  organized  world, 
not  indeed  very  flattering  to  our  vanity ;  that  it  converts  water  into  earth, 
forming  iflands  and  continents  by  its  recrements  or  exuvise. 


NOTE  XXIV.— GRANITE. 

Climb  the  rudejleeps,  the  granite-cliffs  furround.  CANTO  II.  1.  523. 

THE  loweft  ftratum  of  the  earth  which  human  labour  has  arrived  to,  is 
granite;  and  of  this,  likewife,  confifts  the  higheft  mountains  of  the  world. 
It  is  known  under  variety  of  names,  according  to  fome  difference  in  its  ap- 


i  98  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

pearance  or  compofition,  but  is  now  generally  confidered  by  philofophers  a« 
a  fpecies  of  lava;  if  it  contains  quartz,  feltfpat,  and  mica,  in  diftindt  cryftals, 
it  is  called  granite;  which  is  found,  in  Cornwall,  in  rocks;  and  in  loofe 
Hones  in  the  gravel  near  Drayton,  in  Shropfhire,  in  the  road  towards  New- 
caftle.  If  tbefe  parts  of  the  compofition  be  lefs  diftincT:,  or  if  only  two  of 
them  be  vifible  to  the  eye,  it  is  termed  porphyry,  trap,  whin-ftone,  moor- 
flone,  flate.  And  if  it  appears  in  a  regular  angular  form,  it  is  called  ba- 
faltes.  The  affinity  of  thefe  bodies  has  lately  been  further  well  eftablifhed 
by  Dr.  Beddoes,  in  the  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  LXXX. 

Thefe  are  all  efteemed  to  have  been  volcanic  productions,  that  have  un- 
dergone different  degrees  of  heat,  it  is  well  known,  that  in  Papin's  digefter 
water  may  be  made  red-hot  by  confinement,  and  will  then  diffolve  many 
bodies  which  otherwife  are  little  or  not  at  all  acted  upon  by  it.  From 
hence  it  may  be  conceived,  that  under  immenfe  preffure  of  fuperincumbent 
materials,  and  by  great  heat,  thefe  maffes  of  lava  may  have  undergone  a 
kind  of  aqueous  folution,  without  any  tendency  to  vitrifadlion,  and  might 
thence  have  a  power  of  ceyftallization;  whence  all  the  varieties  above-men- 
tioned, from  the  different  proportion  of  the  materials,  or  the  different  de- 
grees of  heat  they  may  have  undergone  in  this  aqueous  folution.  And  that 
the  uniformity  of  the  mixture  of  the  original  earths,  as  of  lime,  argil,  filex, 
magnefia,  and  barytes,  which  they  contain,  was  owing  to  their  boiling  to- 
gether a  longer  or  fhorter  time  before  their  elevation  into  mountains.  See 
note  XIX.  art.  8. 

The  feat  of  volcanos  feems  to  be  principally,  if  not  entirely,  in  thefe 
ftrata  of  granite,  as  many  of  them  are  fituated  on  granite  mountains,  and 
throw  up,  from  time  to  time,  fheets  of  lava,  which  run  down  over  the  pre- 
ceding ftrata,  from  the  fame  origin ;  and  in  this  they  feem  to  differ  from 
the  heat  which  has  feparated  the  clay,  coal,  and  fand,  in  moraffes,  which 
would  appear  to  have  rifen  from  a  kind  of  fermentation,  and  thus  to  have 
pervaded  the  whole  mafs,  without  any  expuition  of  lava. 

All  .the  lavas  from  Vefuvius  contain  one  fourtli  part  of  iron,  (Kirwan's 
Min.)  and  all  the  five  primitive  earths,  viz.  calcareous,  argillaceous,  filiceous, 
bar y tic,  and  magnefian  earths,  which  are  alfo  evidently  produced  now,  daily, 
from  the  recrements  of  animal  and  vegetable  bodies.  What  is  to  be  thence 
concluded  ?  Has  the  granite  ftratum,  in  very  ancient  times,  been  produced 
like  the  prefent  calcareous  and  filiceous  maffes,  according  to  the  ingenious 
theory  of  Dr.  Hutton,  who  fays  new  continents  are  now  forming  at  the 
bottom  of  the  fea,  to  rife  in  their  turn ;  and  that  thus  the  terraqueous  globe 
has  been,  and  will  be,  eternal?  Or  fhall  we  fuppofe,  that  this  internal 
heated  mafs  of  granite,  which  forms  the  nucleus  of  the  earth,  was  a  part  of 
the  body  of  the  fun,  before  it  was  feparated  by  an  explofion  ?  Or  was  the 
fun  originally  a  planet,  inhabited  like  ours,  and  a  fatellite  to  fome  other 
greater  fun,  which  has  long  been  extinguifhed  by  diffufion  of  its  light,  and 
around  which  the  prefent  fun  continues  to  revolve,  according  to  a  conjec- 
ture of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Herfchell,  and  which  conveys  to  the  mind  a 
moft  fublime  idea  of  the  progreflive  and  increafing  excellence  ef  the  works 
of  the  Creator  of  all  things  ? 


c/ct  <>/  <r  <>/(/t  /h\><'<     •     v///v/  <y   /n' 


>//}('/'     t(*tf/t<W/~   '/<'t/</  Mr     //'  ////V  ^  ///>///"/  ' 


/   /      / 


NOTE  XXIV.          ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  199 

For  the  more  eafy  comprehenfion  of  the  facts  and  conjectures  concern- 
ing the  iituation  and  production  of  the  various  ftrata  of  the  earth,  I  ihall 
here  fubjoin  a  fuppofed  fection  of  the  globe,  but  without  any  attempt  to 
give  the  proportions  of  the  parts,  or  the  number  of  them,  but  only  their  re- 
fpective  fituation  over  each  other,  and  a  geological  recapitulation. 

GEOLOGICAL   RECAPITULATION. 

1.  The  earth  was  projected  along  with  the  other  primary  planets  from 
the  fun,  which  is  fuppofed  to  be  on  fire  only  on  its  furface,  emitting  light 
without  much  internal  heat,  like  a  ball  of  burning  camphor. 

2.  The  rotation  of  the  earth  round  its  axis,  was  occafioned  by  its  greater 
friction,  or  adhefion  to  one  fide  of  the  cavity  from  which  it  was  ejected; 
and  from  this  rotation  it  acquired  its  fpheroidical  form.     As  it  cooled  in  its 
afcent  from  the  fun,  its  nucleus  became  harder;  and  its  attendant  vapours 
were  condenfed,  forming  the  ocean. 

3.  The  mafles  or  mountains  of  granite,  porphyry,  bafalt,  and  ftones  of 
fimilar  ftructure,  were  a  part  of  the  original  nucleus  of  the  earth,  or  confift 
of  volcanic  productions  fince  formed. 

4.  On  this  nucleus  of  granite  and  bafaltes,  thus  covered  by  the  ocean, 
were  formed  the  calcareous  beds  of  lime-ftone,  marble,  chalk,  fpar,  from 
the  exuviae  of  marine  animals,  with  the  flints,  or  chertz,  which  accompany 
them.     And  were  ftratified  by  their  having  been  formed  at  different,  and 
very  diftant  periods  of  time. 

5.  The  whole  terraqueous  globe  was  burft  by  central  fires;  iflands  and 
continents  were  raifed,  confifting  of  granite,  or  lava,  in  fome  parts,  and  of 
lime-flone  in  others;  and  great  vallies  were  funk,  into  which  the  ocean  re- 
tired. 

6.  During  thefe  central  earthquakes  the  moon  was  ejected  from  the  earth, 
caufmg  new  tides;  and  the  earth's  axis  fuffered  fome  change  in  its  inclina- 
tion, and  its  rotatory  motion  was  retarded. 

7.  On  fome  parts  of  thefe  iflands  and  continents  of  granite  or  lime-ftonc, 
were  gradually  produced  extenfive  morafles,  from  the  recrements  of  vege- 
tables and  of  land  animals ;  and  from  thefe  morafles,  heated  by  fermenta- 
tion, were  produced  clay,  marl,  fand-ftone,  coal,  iron  (with  the  bafes  of 
variety  of  acids) ;  all  which  were  ftratified  by  their  having  been  formed  at 
different,  and  very  diftant  periods  of  time. 

8.  In  the  elevation  of  the  mountains,  very  numerous  and  deep  fiflures 
neceflarily  were  produced.    In  thefe  fiflures  many  of  the  metals  are  formed, 
partly  from  defcending  materials,  and  partly  from  afcending  ones,  raifed  in 
vapour  by  fubterraneous  fires.    In  the  fiffures  of  granite  or  porphyry,  quartz 
is  formed;  in  the  fiffures  of  lime-ftone,  calcareous  fpar  is  produced. 

9.  During  thefe  firft  great  volcanic  fires,  it  is  probable  the  atmofphere- 
was  either  produced,  or  much  increafed;  a  procefs  which  is,  perhaps,  now 
going  on  in  the  moon;  Mr.  Herichell  having  difcovered  a  volcanic  crater 
three  miles  broad,  burning  on  her  difk. 

jo.  The  fummits  of  the  new  mountains  were  cracked  into  innumerable 


loo  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  J. 

lozenges  by  the  cold  dews,  or  fnows,  falling  upon  them  when  red-hot. 
From  thefe  fummits,  which  were  then  twice  as  high  as  at  prefent,  cubes  and 
lozenges  of  granite,  and  bafalt,  and  quartz,  in  fome  countries,  and  of  marbb 
and  flints  in  others,  defcended  gradually  into  the  valleys,  and  were  rolled 
together  in  the  beds  of  rivers  (which  were  then  fo  large  as  to  occupy  the 
whole  valleys,  which  they  now  only  interfect)  ;  and  produced  the  great  beds 
of  gravel,  of  which  many  valleys  confift. 

II.  In  feveral  parts  of  the  earth's  furface,  fubfequent  earthquakes,  from 
the  fermentation  of  moraffes,  have,  at  different  periods  of  time,  deranged 
the  pofition  of  the  matters  above  described.  Hence  the  gravel,  which  was 
before  in  the  beds  of  rivers,  has,  in  fome  places,  been  railed  into  mountains, 
along  with  clay  and  coal  ftrata,  which  were  formed  from  moraffes,  and 
wafhed  down  from  eminences  into  the  beds  of  rivers,  or  the  neighbouring 
feas,  and  in  part  raifed  again  with  gravel,  or  marine  {hells,  over  them  ;  but 
this  has  only  obtained  in  few  places,  compared  with  the  general  diftribution 
of  fuch  materials.  Hence  there  feem  to  have  exifted  two  fources  of  earth- 
quakes, which  have  occurred  at  great  diftance  of  time  from  each"  other;  one 
from  the  granite  beds,  in  the  central  parts  of  the  earth,  and  the  other  from 
the  moraffes  on  its  furface.  All  the  fubfequent  earthquakes  and  volcanos  of 
modern  days,  compared  with  thefe,  are  of  fmall  extent,  and  inlignificant 


12.  Befides  the   argillaceous  fand-ftone  produced  from  moraffes,  which 
is  ftratified  with  clay,  and  coal,  and  iron,  other  great  beds  of  filiceous  fand 
have  been  formed  in  the  fea,  by  the  combination  of  an  unknown  acid  from 
moraffes,  and  the  calcareous  matters  of  the  ocean. 

13.  The  warm  waters  which  are  found  in  many  countries,  are  owing  to 
ileam  arifmg  from  great  depths,  through  the  fiffures  of  lime-ilone  or  lava, 
elevated  by  fubterranean  fires,  and  condenfed  between  the  ftrata  of  the  hills 
over  them,  and  not  from  any  decompofition  of  pyrites  or  manganefe  near 
the  furface  of  the  earth. 

14.  The  columns  of  bafaltes  have  been  raifed  by  the  congelation  or  ex* 
panfion  of  granite  beds,  in   the  act  of  cooling,  from  their  lemUvitreous 
fufion. 


NOTE  XXV.— EVAPORATION. 

Aquatic  Nymphs  f—vou  lead  iviib  'uieivlejs  march 

T/JC  luinged  Vapours  up  the  aerial  arch.  CANTO  III.  1.  IT,, 

I.  THE  atmofphere  will  diffolve  a  certain  quantity  of  moifture,  as  a  che-» 
mical  menftruum,  even  when  it  is  much  below  the  freezing  point,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  diminution  of  ice  fufpended  in  frofty  air;  but  a  much  greater 
quantity  of  water  is  evaporated,  and  fufpended  in  the  air,  by  means  of  heat, 
which  is,  perhaps,  the  univerfal  caufe  of  fluidity ;  for  water  is  known  to  boil 
with  kfs  heat  iu  vacuo,  which  is  a  proof  that  it  will  evaporate  fafter  in  va^ 


NOTE  XXV.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  201 

cuo,  and  that  the  air,  therefore,  rather  hinders  than  promotes  its  cvaporat 
tion  in  higher  degrees  of  heat.  The  quick  evaporation  occailoned  in  vacuo 
by  a  fraall  degree  of  heat,  is  agreeably  feen  in  what  is  termed  a  pulfe-glafs, 
which  confifts  of  an  exhaufted  tube  of  glafs,  with  a  bulb  at  each  end  of  it, 
and  with  about  two  thirds  of  the  cavity  filled  with  alkohol,  in  which  the 
fpirit  is  inftantly  feen  to  boil,  by  the  heat  of  the  finger-end  applied  on  a  bub-, 
ble  of  fteam  in  the  lower  bulb,  and  is  condenfed  again  in  the  upper  bulb  by 
the  lead  conceivable  comparative  coldnefs. 

a.  Another  circumftance,  evincing  that  heat  is  the  principal  caufe  of  eva- 
poration, is,  that  at  the  time  of  water  being  converted  into  fteam,  a  great 
quantity  of  heat  is  taken  away  from  the  neighbouring  bodies.  If  a  ther- 
mometer be  repeatedly  dipped  in  ether,  of  in  re&ified  fpirit  of  wine,  and. 
expofed  to  a  blaft  of  air,  to  expedite  the  evaporation  by  perpetually  remov- 
ing the  faturated  air  from  it,  the  thermometer  will  prefently  fink  below 
freezing.  This  warmth,  taken  from  the  ambient  bodies  at  the  time  of  eva- 
poration by  the  fteam,  is  again  given  put  >vhen  the  fteam  is  condenfed  into; 
water.  Hence  the  water  in  a  worm-tub,  during  diftillation,  fp  foon  be? 
£omes  hot ;  and  hence  the  warmth  accompanying  the  defcent  of  rain  in 
cold  weather. 

1*  The  third  circumftance,  {hewing  that  heat  is  the  principal  caufe  of 
evaporation,  is,  that  fome  of  the  fteam  becomes  again  condenfed  when  any 
part  of  the  heat  is  withdrawn.  Thus,  when  warmer  fouth-weft  winds,  re- 
plete with  moifture,  fucceed  the  colder  north-eaft  winds,  all  bodies  that  are 
.denfe  and  fubftantial,  as  {lone  walls,  brick  floors,  &c,  abforb  fome  of  the 
heat  from  the  pafiing  air,  and  its  moifture  becomes  precipitated  on  them ; 
while  the  north-eaft  winds  become  warmer  on  their  arrival  in  this  latitude, 
and  are  thence  difpofed  to  take  up  more  rnpifture,  and  are  termed  drying 
winds. 

4.  Heat  feems  to  be  the  principal  caufe  of  the  folution  pf  many  other  bot 
dies,  as  common  fait,  or  blue  vitriol,  diflolved  in  water,  which,  when  ex- 
pofed to  fevere  cold,  are  precipitated,  pr  carried,  to  the  part  of  the  water 
hft  frozen ;  this  1  obferved  in  a  phial  filled  with  a  folution  of  blue  vitriol, 
which  was  frozen :  the  phial  was  burft,  the  ice  thawed,  and  a  blue  column 
of  cupreous  vitriol  was  left  {landing  upright  on  the  bottom  of  the  broken 
glafs,  as  defcribed  in  note  XIX.  art  3. 

II.  Hence  water  may  either  be  diffolved  in  air,  and  may  then  be  called 
an  aerial  fplution  of  water;  or  it  may  be  diffolved  in  the  fluid  matter  o£ 
h.eat,  according  to  the  theory  of  M.  Lavoifier,  and  may  then  be  called  fteam. 
In  the  former  cafe,  it  is  probable,  there  are  many  other  vapours  which  may 
precipitate  it,  as  marine  acid  gas,  or  flupr  acid  gas.  So  alkaline  gas  and 
acid  gas,  diffolved  in  air,  precipitate  each  other;  nitrous  gas  precipitates  vi.- 
tal  air  from  its  azote ;  and  inflammable  gas,  mixed  with  vital  air,  ignited 
by  an  ele&ric  fp.ark,  either  produces  or  precipitates  the  water  in  both  of 
them.  Are  there  any  fubtle  exhalations,  occafionally  diffufed  in  the  atmof^ 
phcre,  which  may  thus  caufe  rain  ? 

j.  But  as  water  is,  pcrhap,?,  many  hundred  times  more  fohible  in  the 
fluid  matter  of  heat  than  in  air,  I  fuppofe  the  eduction  of  this  heat,  by 

PART  I.  2  D 


202  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

whatever  means  it  is  occafioned,  is  the  principal  caufe  of  devaporation. 
Thus,  if  a  region  of  air  is  brought  from  a  warmer  climate,  as  the  S.  W. 
winds,  it  becomes  cooled  by  its  contact  with  the  earth  in  this  latitude,  and 
parts  with  fo  much  of  its  moifture  as  was  diffolved  in  the  quantity  of  calo- 
rique,  or  heat,  which  it  now  lofes,  but  retains  that  part  which  was  f ufpendcd 
by  its  attraction  to  the  particles  of  air,  or  by  aerial  folution,  even  in  the 
mod  fevere  frofts. 

2.  A  fecond  immediate  caufe  of  rain  is  a  ftream  of  N.  E.  wind  defcend- 
ing  from  a  fuperior  current  of  air,  and  mixing  with  the  warmer  S.  W.  wind 
below;  or  the  reverfe  of  this,  viz.  a  fuperior  current  of  S.  W.  wind  mixing 
with  an  inferior  one  of  N.  E.  wind:  in  both  thefe  cafes  the  whole  heaven 
becomes  inftantly  clouded,  and  the  moifture  contained  in  the  S.  W.  current 
is  precipitated.     This  caufe  of  devaporation  has  been  ingenioufly  explained 
by  Dr.  Hutton,  in  the  Tranfact.  of  Edinburgh,  voL  I.  and  feems  to  arife 
from  this  circumftance  ;  the  particles  of  air  of  the  N.  E.  wind  educe  part  of 
the  heat  from  the  S.  W.  wind,  and  therefore  the  water  which  was  diffolved 
by  that  quantity  of  heat  is  precipitated;  all  the  other  part  of  the   water, 
which  was  fufpended  by  its  attraction  to  the  particles  of  air,  or  diffolved  in 
the  remainder  of  the  heat,  continues  unprecipitated. 

3.  A  third  method  by  which  a  region  of  air  becomes  cooled,  and,  in  con- 
fequence,  depofits  much  of  its  moifture,  is  from  the  mechanical  expanfion  of 
air,  when  part  of  the  preffure  is  taken  off.     In  this  cafe  the  expanded  air 
becomes  capable  of  receiving  or  attracting  more  of  the  matter  of  heat  into 
its  interftices ;  and  the  vapour,  which  was  previoufly  diffolved  in  this  heat,  is 
depofited,  as  is  feen  in  the  receiver  of  an  air-pump,  which  becomes  dewy, 
as  the  air  within  becomes  expanded  by  the  eduction  of  part  of  it.    See  note 
VII.     Hence,  when  the  mercury  in  the  barometer  finks  without  a  change 
of  the  wind,  the  air  generally  becomes  colder.    See  note  VII.  on  Elementa- 
ry Heat.     And  it  is  probably  from  the  varying  preffure  of  the  incumbent 
air,  that  in  fummer  days  fmall  black  clouds  are  often  thus  fuddeniy  produced, 
and  again  foon  vanifh.     See  a  paper  in  Phil.  Tranf.  voL  LXXVIII.  en- 
titled Frigorific  Experiments  on  the  Mechanical  Expanfion  of  Air. 

4.  Another  portion  of  atmofpheric  water  may  poffibly  be  held  in  folution 
by  the  electric  fluid,  fmce,  in  thunder-ftorms,  a  precipitation  of  the  water 
feems  to  be  either  the  caufe  or  the  confequence  of  the  eduction  of  the  elec- 
tricity.    But  it  appears  more  probable  that  the  water  is  condenfed  into 
clouds  by  the  eduction  of  its  heat,  and  that  then  the  furplus  of  electricity 
prevents  their  coalefcence  into   larger  drops,  which  immediately  fucceeds 
the  departure  of  the  lightning. 

5.  The  immediate  caufe  why  the  barometer  finks  before  rain,  is,  firft,  be- 
caufe  a  region  of  warm  air,  brought  to  us  in  the  place  of  the  cold  air  which 
it  had  difplaced,  muft  weigh  lighter,  both  fpecifically  and  abfolutely,  if  the 
height  of  the  warm  atmofphere  be  fuppofed  to  be  equal  to  that  of  the  pre- 
ceding cold  one.     And,  fecondly,  after  the  drops  of  rain  begin  to  fall  in  any 
column  of  air,  that  column  becomes  lighter,  the  falling  drops  only  adding 
to  the  preffure  of  the  air  in  proportion  to  the  refinance  which  they  meet 
with  in  paffing  through  that  fluid. 


NOTE  XXVI.          ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  203 

If  we  could  fuppofe  water  to  be  diflblved  in  air  without  heat,  or  in  very 
low  degrees  of  heat,  I  fuppofe  the  air  would  become  heavier,  as  happens  in 
many  chemical  folutions;  but  if  water,  diffolved  in  the  matter  of  heat,  or 
calorique,  be  mixed  with  an  aerial  folution  of  water,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
but  an  atmofphere  confifting  of  fuch  a  mixture,  muft  become  lighter  in  pro- 
portion to  the  quantity  of  calorique.  On  the  fame  circumftance  depends 
the  vifible  vapour  produced  from  the  breath  of  animals  in  cold  weather,  or 
from  a  boiling  kettle ;  the  particles  of  cold  air  with  which  it  is  mixed,  fteal 
a  part  of  its  heat,  and  become  themfeives  raifed  in  temperature ;  whence 
part  of  the  water  is  precipitated  in  vifible  vapour,  which,  if  in  great  quan- 
tity, finks  to  the  ground ;  if  in  fmall  quantity^  and  the  furrounding  air  is 
not  previoufiy  faturated,  it  fpreads  itfelf  till  it  becomes  again  diffolved. 


NOTE  XXVI.— SPRINGS. 

Tour  lucid  bands  condenfe  ivitb  Jingers  dill 

The  blue  mijl  hovering  round  the  gelid  hill.  CANTO  III.  1.  19. 

THE  furface  of  the  earth  confifts  of  ftrata,  many  of  which  were  formed 
originally  beneath  the  fea;  the  mountains  were  afterwards  forced  up  by  fub- 
terraneous  fires,  as  appears  from  the  fiffures  in  the  rocks  of  which  they  confift, 
the  quantity  of  volcanic  productions  all  over  the  world,  and  the  numerous 
remains  of  craters  of  volcanos  in  mountainous  countries.  Hence  the  ftrata 
which  compofe  the  fides  of  mountains  lie  flanting  downwards,  and  one  or  two, 
or  more,  of  the  external  ftrata  not  reaching  to  the  fummit  when  the  moun- 
tain was  raifed  up,  the  fecond  or  third  ftratum,  or  a  more  inferior  one,  is 
there  expofed  to  day ;  this  may  be  well  reprefented  by  iorceably  thrufting  a 
blunt  inftrument  through  feveral  fheets  of  paper;  a  bur  will  ftand  up  with 
the  lowermoft  flieet,  ftanding  higheft  in  the  centre  ef  it.  On  this  upper- 
mcft  ftratum,  which  is  colder  as  it  is  more  elevated,  the  dews  are  condenfed 
in  large  quantities,  and,  fliding  down,  pafs  under  the  firft,  or  fecond,  or 
third  ftratum,  which  compofe  the  fides  of  the  hill,  and  either  form  a  morafs 
below,  or  a  weeping  rock,  by  oozing  out  in  numerous  places,  or  many  of 
thefe  lefs  currents  meeting  together,  burft  out  in  a  more  copious  rill. 

The  fummits  of  mountains  are  much  colder  than  the  plains  in  their  vici- 
nity, owing  to  feveral  caufes:  I.  Their  being,  in  a  manner,  infulated  or  cut 
off  from  the  common  heat  of  the  earth,  which  is  always  of  48  degrees,  and 
perpetually  counteracts  the  effect  of  external  cold  beneath  that  degree.  2. 
From  their  furfaces  being  larger  in  proportion  to  their  folid  contents,  and 
hence  their  heat  more  expeditioufly  carried  away  by  the  ever-moving  atmof- 
phere. 3.  The  increafing  rarity  of  the  air  as  the  mountain  rifes.  All  thofe 
bodies  which  conduct  electricity  well  or  ill,  conduct  the  matter  of  heat  likc- 
wife  well  or  ill.  See  note  VII.  Atmofpheric  air  is  a  bad  conductor  of 
electricity,  and  thence  confines  it  on  the  body  where  it  is  accumulated;  but, 
when  it  is  made  very  rare,  as  in  the  exhaufted  receiver,  the  electric  aura 


4o4  fiOTANIC  GARDEN. 

gaffes  away  immediately  tb  any  diftance.  The  fame  circumftance  probably 
happens  in  refpect  to  heat,  which  is  thud  kept,  by  the  dertfef  air  on  the 
plains,  from  efcaping,  but  is  diflipated  on  the  hills,  where  the  air  is  thinner. 
4.  As  the  currents  of  air  rife  up  the  fides  of  mountains,  they  become  mecha- 
riically  rarefied,  the  preffure  of  the  incumbent  column  leifening  as  they 
fcfcend.  Hence  the  expanding  air  abforbs  heat  from  the  mountain  as  it 
dfcends,  as  explained  in  note  VII.  5.  There  is  another,  and,  perhaps,  more 
powerful  caufe,  I  fufpect,  which  may  occafion  the  great  cold  on  mountains, 
and  in  the  higher  parts  of  the  atmofphere,  and  which  has  not  yet  been  at- 
tended to;  I  mean  that  the  fluid  matter  of  heat  may  probably  gravitate  round 
the  earth,  and  form  an  atrhofphere  dn  its  furface,  mixed  with  the  aerial  at- 
mofphere, which  may  diriiinifii  or  become  rarer,  as  it  recedes  from  the  earth's 
furface,  in  a  greater  proportion  than  the  air  diminilhes. 

6.  The  great  condenfation  of  nioiflure  on  the  fummits  of  hills  has  ano- 
ther caufe,  which  is  the  dafhing  of  moving  clouds  againft  them :  in  mifty 
"days  this  is  often  feen  to  have  great  effect  on  plains,  where  an  eminent  tree, 
by  obftructing  the  mift  as  it  moves  along,  {hall  have  a  much  greater  quantity 
of  moifture  drop  from  its  leaves,  than  falls  at  the  fame  time  on  the  ground 
ill  its  vicinity.  Mr.  White,  in  his  Hiftory  of  Selborne,  gives  an  account  of 
a  large  tree  fo  fituated,  from  which  a  ftream  flowed,  during  a  moving  mift,  fo 
as  to  fill  the  cart-ruts  in  a  lane  otherwife  not  very  moift;  and  ingenioufly 
adds,  that  trees  planted  about  ponds  of  ftagnant  Water,  contribute  much, 
by  thefe  means,  to  fupply  the  refervoir.  The  fpherules  which  conftitute  a 
mift  or  cloud,  are  kept  from  uniting  by  fo  fmall  a  power,  that  a  little  agita- 
tion againft  the  leaves  of  a  tree,  or  the  greater  attra6lion  of  a  flat  moift  fur- 
face,  condenfes  or  precipitates  them. 

If  a  leaf  has  its  furface  moiftened,  and  particles  of  water  feparate  from 
teach  other,  as  in  a  mift,  be  brought  near  the  moiftened  furface  of  &  leaf,  each 
particle  will  be  attracted  more  by  that  plain  furface  of  water  oh  the  leaf,  than 
it  can  be  by  the  furrounding  particles  of  the  mift ;  becaufe  globules  only  at* 
tract  each  other  irt  one  point,  whereas  a  plain  attracts  a  globule  by  a  greater 
extent  of  its  furface. 

The  common  cold  fprings  are  thus  formed  on  elevated  grounds  by  the 
condenfed  vapours,  and  hence  are  ftronger  when  the  nights  are  cold,  after 
hot  days,  in  fpring,  than  even  in  the  wet  days  of  winter.  For  the  warm 
atmofphere,  during  the  day,  has  diffolved  much  more  Water  than  it  can 
fupport  in  foliation  during  the  cold  of  the  night,  which  is  thus  depofited  in 
large  quantities  on  the  hills,  and  yet  fo  gradually  as  to  foak  in  between  the 
flrata  of  them,  rather  than  to  flide  off  over  their  furfaees,  like  fhoWers  of 
rain.  The  common  heat  of  the  internal  parts  of  the  earth  is  afcertained 
by  fprings  which  arife  frorn  ftrata  of  earth  too  deep  tb  be  affected  by  the 
heat  of  fummcr  or  the  frofts  of  winter.  Thofe,  in  this  country,  are  of  4$ 
degrees  of  heat;  thofe  about  Philadelphia  Were  faid,by  Dr.  Franklin,  to  be 
5»;  whether  this  variation  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  difference  of  the 
fun's  heat  on  that  country,  according  to  the  ingenious  theory  of  Mr.  Kir- 
wan,  or  to  the  vicinity  of  fubterranean  fires,  is  not  yet,  I  think,  decided. 
There  are,  however,  fubterrancous  ftreams  pf  water  not  exactly  produced 


NotE  ^XVII.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  205 

in  this  manner,  as  ftreams  iffuing  from  fiffures  in  the  earth,  communicating 
with  the  craters  of  old  volcanos :  in  the  Peak  of  Derbyfhire  are  many  hoU 
lows,  called  fwallows,  where  the  land  floods  fink  into  the  eaith,  and  come 
out  at  fomc  miles  diftant,  as  at  Ilam,  near  Afhborne.  See  note  on  Fica> 
Vol.  If. 

Other  ftreams  of  ccld  water  arife  from  beneath  the  fnow  on  the  Alps  and 
Andes,  and  other  high  mountains,  which  is  perpetually  thawing  at  its  un- 
der furface  by  the  common  heat  of  the  earth,  and  gives  rife  to  large  rivers. 
For  the  origin  of  warm  fprings  fee  note  on  Fucus,  vol.  II. 


NOTE  XXVIL— SHELL  FISH. 

You  round  Echinus  fay  hh  arrotvy  mail. 

Give  the  keefd  Nautilus  his  oar  and  fail ; 

Firm  to  his  rock  iviibfilver  cords  fufpend 

The  anchored  Pinna,  and  his  Cancer-friend*  CANTO  III.  1.  6*. 

THE  armour  of  the  Echinus,  or  Sea  hedge-hog,  confifts  generally  of 
tnoveable  fpines ;  (Linnai  Syjlem.  Nat.  vol.  I.  p.  1 102.)  and,  in  that  refpect, 
refembles  the  armour  of  the  land  animal  of  the  fame  name.  The  irregular 
protuberances  on  other  fea-fhells,  as  on  fome  fpecies  of  the  Purpura,  and 
Murex,  ferve  them  as  a  fortification  againft  the  attacks  of  their  enemies. 

It  is  faid  that  this  animal  forefees  tempeftuous  weather,  and,  finking  to 
the  bottom  of  the  fea,  adheres  firmly  to  fea-plants,  or  other  bodies,  by 
means  of  a  fubftance  which  refembles  the  horns  of  fnails.  Above  twelve 
hundred  of  thefe  fillets  have  been  counted,  by  which  this  animal  fixes  itfelf ; 
and  when  afloat,  it  contracts  thefe  fillets  between  the  bafis  of  its  points,  the 
number  of  which  often  amounts  to  two  thoufand.  Diet.  Raifonne.  art* 
Ourfin.  de  mer. 

There  is  a  kind  of  Nautilus,  called,  by  Linhseus,  Argonauta,  whofe  fhell 
has  but  orie  cell:  of  this  animal  Pliny  affirms,  that  having  exonerated  its 
fhell  by  throwing  out  the  Water,  it  fvvims  upon  the  furface,  extending  a 
web  of  wonderful  tenuity,  and  bending  back  two  of  its  arms,  and  rowing 
with  the  reft,  makes  a  fail,  and,  at  length,  receiving  the  Water,  dives  again* 
Plin.  IX.  29*  Linnaeus  adds  to  his  defcription  of  this  animal,  that  like  the 
Crab  Diogenes,  or  Bernhard,  it  occupies  a  houfe  not  its  own,  as  it  is  not 
connected  to  its  fhell,  and  is  therefore  foreign  to  it:  who  could  huve  given 
credit  to  this  if  it  had  not  been  attefted  by  fo  many  who  have,  with  their 
own  eyes,  feen  this  argonaut  in  the  act  of  failing?  Syft.  Nat.  p.  1161. 

Th'e  Nautilus,  properly  fo  named  by  Linnaeus,  has  a  fhell,  confifting  of 
many  chambers,  of  which  cups  are  made  in  the  Eaft  with  beautiful  paint- 
ing and  carving  on  the  mother-pearl.  The  animal  is  faid  to  inhabit  only 
the  uppermoft  or  open  chamber,  which  is  larger  than  the  reft;  and  that  th« 
reft  remain  empty,  except  that  the  pipe,  or  fiphunculus,  which  communi- 
cates from  on«  to  the  other  of  them,  is  filled  with  an  appendage  of  the  ani- 


aoft  BOtANlC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

hial,  like  a  gut  or  firing.  Mr.  Hook,  in  his  Philof.  Exper.  p.  306,  imagines 
this  to  be  a  dilatable  or  compreflible  tube,  like  the  air  bladders  of  fifh,  and 
that,  by  contracting  or  permitting  it  to  expand,  it  renders  its  ihell  buoyant, 
or  the  contrary.  See  note  on  Ulva,  vol.  II. 

The  Pinna,  or  Sea-wing,  is  contained  in  a  two-valve  fhell,  weighing 
fometimes  fifteen  pounds,  and  emits  a  beard  of  fine  long  gioffy  filk-like  fibres, 
by  which  it  is  fufpended  to  the  rocks  twenty  or  thirty  feet  beneath  the  fur- 
face  of  the  fea.  In  this  fituation  it  is  fo  fuccefsfully  attacked  by  the  eight- 
footed  Polypus,  that  the  fpecies,  perhaps,  could  not  exift  but  for  the  exer- 
tions of  the  Cancer  Pinnotheris,  who  lives  in  the  fame  fhell  as  a  guard  and 
companion.  Amcen.  Acad.  vol.  II.  p.  48.  Lin.  Syft.  Nat.  vol.  I.  p.  1159. 
and  p.  1040. 

The  Pinnotheris,  or  Pinnophylax,  is  a  fmall  crab,  naked,  like  Bernard 
the  Hermit,  but  is  furnifhed  with  good  eyes,  and  lives  in  the  fame  fhell  with 
the  Pinna;  when  they  want  food  the  Pinna  opens  it  fhell,  and  fends  its 
faithful  ally  to  forage;  but  if  the  Cancer  fees  the  Polypus,  he  returns  fud- 
denly  to  the  arms  of  his  blind  hoftefs,  who,  by  clofing  the  fhell,  avoids  the 
fury  of  her  enemy;  otherwife,  when  it  has  procured  a  booty,  it  brings  it  to 
the  opening  of  the  fhell,  where  it  is  admitted,  and  they  divide  the  prey. 
This  was  obferved  by  Hafiequifl,  in  his  voyage  to  Paleftine. 

The  Byffus  of  the  ancients,  according  to  Ariftotle,  was  the  beard  of  the 
Pinna  above-mentioned,  but  feems  to  have  been  ufed  by  other  writers  indif- 
criminately  for  any  fpun  material,  which  was  eftecmed  finer  or  more  valu- 
able than  wool.    Reaumur  fays,  the  threads  of  this  Byffus  are  not  lefs  fine  or 
lefs  beautiful  than  the  filk,  as  it  is  fpun  by  the  filk-worm;  the  Pinna  on  the 
coaft  of  Italy  and  Provence  (where  it  is  fifhcd  up  by  iron-hooks  fixed  on 
Jong  poles)  is  called  the  filk-worm  of  the  fca.     The  ftockings  and  gloves 
manufactured  from  it,  are  of  exquifite  finencfs,  but  too  warm  for  common 
wear,  and  are  thence  efteemed  ufeful  in  rhcumatifm  and  gout.     Didt.  Rai- 
fonne,  art.  Pinne-marine.     The  warmth  of  the  Byffus,  like  that  of  filk,  is 
probably  owing  to  their  being  bad  conductors  of  Treat,  as  well  as  of  electricity. 
When  thefe  fibres  are  broken  by  violence,  this  animal,  as  well  as  the  mufcle, 
has  the  power  to  re-produce  them  like  the  common  ipidcrs,  as  was  obferv- 
ed by   M.  Adanfon.     As  raw  filk,  and  raw  cobwebs,  when  fwallowed, 
are  liable   to  produce  great  ficknefs   (as  I  am  informed)   it  is  probable, 
the   part  of  mufclcs,  which  fometimes  difagrees  with   the  people   who  eat 
them,  may  be  this  filky  Web,  by  which  they  attach  themfelves   to   ftones. 
The  large  kind  of  Pinna  contains  fome  mother-pearl,  of  a  reddilh  tinge,  ac- 
cording to  M.  d'Argenville.     The  fubftance  fold  under  the  name  of  Indian- 
weed,  and  ufed  at  the  bottom  of  fifh-lines,  is  probably  a  production  of  this 
kind;  which,  however,  is  fcarcely  to  be  diftinguifhed  by  the  eye  from  the 
tendons  of  a  rat's  tail,  after  they  have  been  feparated  by  putrefaction  in  water, 
and  well  cleaned  and  rubbed;  a  production,  which  I  was  once  fhewn  as  a 
great  curiofity ;  it  had  the  uppermoft  bone  of  the  tail  adhering  to  it,  and  was 
faid  to  have  been  ufed  as  an  ornament  in  a  lady's  hair. 


NOTE  XXIX.  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  ao; 


NOTE  XXVIIL— STURGEON. 

With  ivorm-like  beard  his  tootblcfs  lips  array. 

And  teach  the  uniusildy  Sturgeon  to  betray.  CANTO  III.  1.  71, 

THE  Sturgeon,  Acipenfer,  Strurio.  Lin.  Syft.  Nat.  vol.  I.  p.  403.  is  a  filh 
of  great  curiolity,  as  well  as  of  great  importance ;  his  mouth  is  placed  under 
the  head,  without  teeth,  like  the  opening  of  a  purfe,  which  he  has  the 
power  to  pufh  fuddenly  out,  or  retract.  Before  this  mouth,  under  the  beak, 
or  nofe,  hang  four  tendrils,  fome  inches  long,  and  which  fo  refemblc  earth- 
worms, that  at  firft  fight  they  may  be  miftaken  for  them.  This  clumfy 
toothlefs  fifh  is  fuppofed,  by  this  contrivance,  to  keep  himfelf  in  good  con- 
dition, the  folidity  of  his  flefh  evidently  fhewing  him  to  be  a  filh  of  prey. 
He  is  faid  to  hide  his  large  body  amongft  the  weeds  near  the  fea  coaft,  or  at 
the  mouths  of  large  rivers,  only  expofing  his  cirrhi,  or  tendrils,  which  imall 
fifh,  or  fea  infects,  miftaking  for  real  worms,  approach  for  plunder,  and  arc 
fucked  into  the  jaws  of  their  enemy.  He  has  been  fuppofed  by  fome  to 
root  into  the  foil  at  the  bottom  of  the  fea  or  rivers;  but  the  cirrhi,  or  ten- 
drils above-mentioned,  which  hang  from  his  fnout  over  his  mouth,  mud 
themfelves  be  very  inconvenient  for  this  purpofe,  and,  as  it  has  no  jaws,  it 
evidently  lives  by  faction,  and,  during  its  refidence  in  the  fea,  a  quantity 
of  fea-infects  are  found  in  its  itomach. 

The  fleih  was  fo  valued  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Severus,  that  it  was 
brought  to  table  by  fervants  with  coronets  on  their  heads,  and  preceded 
by  mufic,  which  might  give  rife  to  its  being,  in  our  country,  prefented  by 
the  Lord  Mayor  to  the  King.  At  prefent  it  is  caught  in  the  Danube,  and 
the  Wolga,  the  Don,  and  other  large  rivers,  for  various  purpofes.  The  fkin 
makes  the  beft  covering  for  carriages ;  ifinglafs  is  prepared  from  parts  of 
the  fkin ;  cavear  from  the  fpawn ;  and  the  flefh  is  pickled,  or  failed,  and 
fent  all  over  Europe. 


NOTE  XXIX.— OIL  ON  WATER. 

Or  ivith  JineJUmsyfufpended  o'er  the  decfiy 

Of  oil  ejfvfme  lull  the  'waves  tojleef.  CANTO  III.  1.  87. 

THERE  is  reafon  to  believe,  that  when  oil  is  poured  upon  water,  the 
two  furfaces  do  not  touch  each  other,  but  that  the  oil  is  fufpended  over  the 
water  by  their  mutual  repulfion.  This  feems  to  be  rendered  probable  by 
the  following  experiment:  if  one  drop  of  oJl  be  dropped  on  a  bafon  of  wa- 
ter, it  will  immediately  diffufe  itfelf  over  the  whole,  for  there  being  no 
friction  between  the  two  furfaces,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  its  fpreadirig 
itfelf  by  the  gravity  of  the  upper  part  of  it,  except  its  own  tenacity,  into 
a  pellicle  of  the  greateil  tenuity.  But  if  a  fecond  drop  of  oil  be  put  upon 


>68  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I, 

the  former,  it  does  not  fpread  itfelf,  but  remains  in  the  form  of  a  drop, 
£s  the  other  already  occupied  the  whole  furface  of  the  bafon;  and  there  is 
friction  in  oil  palling  over  oil,  though  none  in  oil  paffing  over  water. 

Hence,  when  oil  is  diffqfed  on  the  furface  of  water,  gentle  breezes  have 
no  influence  in  raifmg  waves  upon  it;  for  a  fmall  quantity  of  oil  will  cover 
a  very  great  furface  of  water  (I  fuppofe  a  fpoonful  will  diffufe  itfelf  over 
fome  acres),  and  the  wind  blowing  uppn  this,  carries  it  gradually  forwards, 
and  there  being  no  fridion  between  the  two  furfaces,  the  water  is  not  af- 
fected. On  which  account  oil  has  no  effect  in  frilling  the  agitation  of 
the  water  after  the  wind  ceafes,  as  was  found  by  the  experiments  of  Dr. 
Franklin. 

This  circumftance,  lately  brought  into  notice  by  Dr.  Franklin,  had  been 
mentioned  by  Pliny,  and  is  faid  to  be  in  ufe  by  the  divers  for  pearls,  who, 
in  windy  weather,  take  down  with  them  a  little  oil  in  their  mouths,  which 
they  occafionally  give  out,  when  the  inequality  of  the  fupernatant  waves 
prevents  them  from  feeing  fufficiently  diftinctly  for  their  purpofe. 

The  wonderful  tenuity  with  which  oil  can  be  fpread  upon  water,  is  evinced 
by  a  few  drops  projected  from  a  bridge,  where  the  eye  is  properly  placed 
over  it,  paffing  through  all  the  prifmatic  colours  as  it  diffufes  itfelf.  And 
alfo  from  another  curious  experiment  of  Dr,  Franklin's;  he  cut  a  piece  of 
cork  to  about  the  fize  of  a  letter-wafer,  leaving  a  point  ftanding  off  like  a 
tangent,  at  one  edge  of  the  circle.  This  piece  of  coik  was  then  dipped  in 
oil,  and  thrown  into  a  large  pond  of  water,  and  as  the  oil  flowed  off  at  the 
point,  the  cork-wafer  continued  to  revolve  in  a  contrary  direction  for  feve- 
ral  minutes.  The  oil  flpwing  off  all  that  time  at  the  pointed  tangent,  in 
coloured  ftreams.  In  a  fmall  pond  of  water  this  experiment  does  not  fo 
ivell  fucceed,  as  the  .circulation  of  the  cork  flops  as  foon  as  the  water  be- 
comes covered  wjth  the  pellicles  of  oil.  See  additional  notes,  NO.  XIII.  and 
nofe  on  Fucus,  vol.  II. 

The  eafe  with  which  oil  and  water  Hide  over  each  other,  is  agreeably  feen 
if  a  phial  be  about  half  filled  with  equal  parts  of  oil  and  water,  and  made 
to  ofcillate,  fufpended  by  a  firing;  the  upper  furface  of  the  oil,  and  the 
lower  one  of  the  water,  will  always  keep  fmooth :  but  the  agitation  of  the 
furfaces  where  the  oil  and  water  meet,  is  curious ;  for  their  fpecific  gravi- 
ties being  not  very  different,  and  their  friction  on  each  other  nothing,  the 
higheft  fide  of  the  water,  as  the  phial  defcends  in  its  ofcillation,  having  ac- 
quired a  greater  momentum  than  the  loweft  fide  (from  its  having  defcended 
further)  woujd  rife  the  higheft  on  the  afcending  fide  of  the  ofcillation,  and 
thence  pufhes  the  then  uppermoft  part  of  the  water  amongft  the  oil. 


NOTE  XXXI.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES,  009 


NOTE  XXX.—  SHIP-  WORM. 


Jbfcet  fell  TerfJoj  as  be  mines  the  keel 

With  beaked  heady  and  break  bis  lips  of  feel.  CANTO  III.  1.  pZ, 

THE  Teredo,  or  fhip-worm,  has  two  calcareous  jaws,  hemifpherical,  flat 
before,  and  angular  behind.  The  {hell  is  taper,  winding,  penetrating  fhipa 
and  fubmarine  wood,  and  was  brought  from  India  into  Europe.  Linnaei 
Syftcm.  Nat.  p.  1267.  TheTarieres,  or  fea-worms,  attack  and  erode  fhip* 
with  fuch  fury,  and  in  fuch  numbers,  as  often  greatly  to  endanger  them.  It 
is  faid  that  our  veffels  have  not  known  this  new  enemy  above  fifty  years;  that 
they  were  brought  from  the  fea  about  the  Antilles,  to  our  parts  of  the  ocean, 
where  they  have  increafed  prodigioufly.  They  bore  their  paffage  in  the 
direction  of  the  fibres  of  the  wood,  which  is  their  nourifhment,  and  cannot 
return  or  pafs  obliquely,  and  thence  when  they  come  to  a  knot  in  the  wood, 
or  when  two  of  them  meet  together,  with  their  ftony  mouths,  they  perilH 
for  want  of  food. 

In  the  years  1731  and  1732,  the  United  Provinces  were  under  a  dreadful 
alarm  concerning  thefe  infedts,  which  had  made  great  depredation  on  the 
piles  which  fupport  the  banks  of  Zealand;  but  it  was  happily  difcovered  a 
few  years  afterwards,  that  thefe  infedb  had  totally  abandoned  that  ifland" 
(Dicl.  Raifonne,  art.  Vers  Rongeurs),  which  might  have  been  occafioned 
by  their  not  being  able  to  live  in  that  latitude,  when  the  winter  was  rather 
feyerer  than  ufual, 


NOTE  XXXI.— MAELSTROM. 

Turn  the  broad  belm,  the  fluttering  canvas  urge 

From  Maeljlrom* s Jierce  innavigable  furge.  CANTO  III.  1.  pj« 

ON  the  coaft  of  Norway  there  is  an  extenfive  vortex,  or  eddy,  which  lief 
between  the  iflands  of  Mofkoe  and  Mofkenas,  and  is  called  Moflcoeftrom, 
or  Maelftrom;  it  occupies  fome  leagues  in  circumference,  and  is  faid  to  be 
very  dangerous,  and  often  deftru6tive,  to  veffels  navigating  thefe  feas.  It  is 
not  eafy  to  underftand  the  exiftence  of  a  conftant  defcending  ftream,  with- 
out fuppofing  it  muft  pafs  through  a  fubterranean  cavity,  to  fome  other  part 
of  the  earth  or  ocean  which  may  lie  beneath  its  level;  as  the  Mediterranean 
fcems  to  lie  beneath  the  level  of  the  Atlantic  ocean,  which,  therefore,  con- 
ftantly  flows  into  it  through  the  Straits;  and  the  waters  of  the  Gulph  of 
Mexico  lie  much  above  the  level  of  the  fea  tibout  the  Floridas,  and  farther 
northward,  which  gives  rife  to  the  Gulph-ftream,  as  defcribed  in  note  on 
Caffia,  in  vol.  It. 

The  Maelibrom  is  faid  to  be  ftill  twice  in  about  twenty-four  hours,  whe» 
ihe  tide  is  up,  and  moft  violent  at  the  oppofite  times  of  the  day.  This  if 

PARTI.  2E 


no  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

not  difficult  to  account  for,  fmce,  when  fo  much  water  is  brought  over  the 
fubterraneous  paffage,  if  fuch  exifts,  as  completely  to  fill  it,  and  ftand  many 
feet  above  it,  lefs  difturbance  muft  appear  on  the  furface.  The  Maelftrom 
is  defcribed  in  the  Memoiresof  the  Swedifh  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  Pon- 
tcpiddan's  Hiftory  of  Norway,  and  in  the  Univerfal  Mufeum  for  1763, 
p.  131. 

The  reafon  why  eddies  of  water  become  hollow  in  the  middle  is,  becaufe 
the  water  immediately  over  the  centre  of  the  well,  or  cavity,  falls  fafter, 
having  lefs  fri*5lion  to  oppofe  its  defcent,  than  the  water  over  the  circumfe- 
rence or  edges  of  the  well.  The  circular  motion,  or  gyration  of  eddies,  de- 
pends on  the  obliquity  of  the  courfe  of  the  flream,  or  to  the  friction  or  op- 
pofition  to  it  being  greater  on  one  fide  of  the  well  than  the  other:  I  have 
obferved  in  water  paffing  through  a  hole  in  the  bottom  of  a  trough,  which 
was  always  kept  full,  the  gyration  of  the  ftream  might  be  turned  either 
way  by  increafing  the  oppofition  of  one  fide  of  the  eddy  with  one's  finger, 
or  by  turning  the  fpout,  through  which  the  water  was  introduced,  a  little 
more  obliquely  to  the  hole  on  one  fide  or  on  the  other.  Lighter  bodies  are 
liable  to  be  retained  long  in  eddies  of  water,  while  thofe  rather  heavier  than 
water,  are  foon  thrown  out  beyond  the  circumference,  by  their  acquired  mo- 
mentum becoming  greater  than  that  of  the  water.  Thus,  if  equal  portions 
of  oil  and  water  be  put  into  a  phial,  and,  by  means  of  a  ftring,  be  whirled 
in  a  circle  round  the  hand,  the  water  will  always  keep  at  the  greater  dif- 
tance  from  the  centre;  whence,  in  the  eddies  formed  in  rivers  during  a 
flood,  a  perfon  who  endeavours  to  keep  above  water,  or  to  i'wim,  is  liable 
to  be  detained  in  them,  but  en  fuffering  himfelf  to  fink,  or  dive,  he  is  faid 
readily  to  efcape.  This  circulation  of  water,  in  defcending  through  a  hole 
in  a  veflel,  Dr.  Franklin  has  ingenioufly  applied  to  the  explanation  of  hur- 
ricanes, or  ^eddies  of  air. 


NOTE  XXX1L— GLACIERS. 

IV here  round  dark  crags  indignant  Walers  bend 

T&rougb  rifted  ice,  in  ivory  veins  defcend.  CANTO  III.  1.  113. 

THE  common  heat  of  the  interior  parts  of  the  earth  being  always  48 
degrees,  both  in  winter  and  fummer,  the  fnow  which  lies  in  contacT:  with  it 
is  always  in  a  thawing  ftate.  Hence,  in  ice-houfes,  the  external  part  of 
the  collection  of  ice  is  perpetually  thawing,  and  thus  preferves  the  internal 
part  of  it,  fo  that  it  is  neceflary  to  lay  up  many  tons  for  the  prefervation  of 
one  ton.  Hence,  in  Italy,  confiderable  rivers  have  their  fource  from  be- 
neath the  eternal  glaciers,  or  mountains  of  fnow  and  ice. 

In  our  country,  when  the  air,  in  the  courfe  of  a  froft,  continues  a  day  or 
two  at  very  near  32  degrees,  the  common  heat  of  the  earth  thaws  the  ice 
on  its  furface,  while  the  thermometer  remains  at  the  freezing  point.  This 
circuraftance  is  often  obfervable  in  the  rimy  mornings  of  fpring ;  the  ther- 


NoTEXXXIir.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  sit 

mometer  fhall  continue  at  the  freezing  point,  yet  all  the  rime  will  vanifh, 
except  that  which  happens  to  lie  on  a  bridge,  a  board,  or  on  a  cake  of  cow- 
dung,  which,  being  thus,  as  it  were,  infulated  or  cut  off  from  fo  free  a  com- 
munication with  the  common  heat  of  the  earth,  by  means  of  the  air  undef 
the  bridge,  or  wood,  or  dung,  which  are  bad  conductors  of  heat,  continue* 
fomp  time  longer  unthawed.  Hence,  when  the  ground  is  covered  thick  with 
fnow,  though  the  froft  continues,  and  the  fun  does  not  fhine,  yet  the  fnow 
is  obferved  to  decreafe  very  fenfibly.  For  the  common  heat  of  the  earth 
melts  the  under  furface  of  it,  and  the  upper  one  evaporates  by  its  folution 
in  the  air.  The  great  evaporation  of  ice  was  obferved  by  Mr.  Boyle,  which 
experiment  I  repeated  fome  time  ago.  Having  fufpended  a  piece  of  ice  by 
a  wire,  and  weighed  it  with  care,  without  touching  it  with  my  hand,  I 
hung  it  out  'the  whole  of  a  clear  frofty  night,  and  found,  in  the  morning,  it 
had  loft  nearly  a  fifth  of  its  weight.  Mr.  N.  Wallerius  has  fince  obferved, 
that  ice,  at  the  time  of  its  congelation,  evaporates  fafter  than  water  in  its 
fluid  form;  which  may  be  accounted  for  from  the  heat  given  out  at  the  in- 
ftant  of  freezing;  (Sauflure's  Effais  fur  Hygromet.  p.  349.)  but  this  effect 
is  only  momentary. 

Thus  the  vegetables  that  are  covered  with  fnow  are  feldom  injured ;  fince, 
as  they  lie  between  the  thawing  fnow,  which  has  32  degrees  of  heat,  and 
the  covered  earth,  which  has  48,  they  arepreferved  in  a  degree  of  heat  be- 
tween thefe,  viz.  in  40  degrees  of  heat.  Whence  the  mofs  on  which  the  rein- 
deer feed,  in  the  northern  latitudes,  vegetates  beneath  the  fnow;  (See  note 
on  Mufchus,  vol.  II.)  and  hence  many  Lapland  and  Alpine  plants  perifhed 
through  cold  in  the  botanic  garden  at  Upfal;  for,  in  their  native  fituations, 
though  the  cold  is  much  more  intenfe,  yet  at  its  very  commencement  they 
are  covered  deep  with  fnow,  which  remains  till  late  in  the  fpring.  For 
this  fact  fee  Amaenit.  Academ.  vol.  I.  No.  48.  In  our  climate  fuch  plants  do 
well  covered  with  dried  fern,  under  which  they  will  grow,  and  even  flower, 
till  the  fevere  vernal  frofts  ceafe.  For  the  increafe  of  glaciers  fee  note  on 
Canto  1. 1.  .529. 


NOTE  XXXIIL— WINDS. 

While  foutbern  Gales  o'er  ivejlern  oceans  roll, 

And  Eurus  Jteals  bis  ice-winds  from  the  Polt.  CANTO  IV.  1.  15. 

THE  theory  of  the  winds  is  yet  very  imperfect,  in  part,  perhaps,  owing 
to  the  want  of  obfervations  fufliciently  numerous  of  the  exact  times  and 
places  where  they  begin  and  ceafe  to  blow,  but  chiefly  to  our  yet  imperfect 
knowledge  of  the  means  by  which  great  regions  of  air  are  either  fuddcnly 
produced  or  fuddenly  deftroyed. 

The  air  is  perpetually  fubject  to  increafe  or  diminution,  from  its  com- 
bination with  other  bodies,  or  its  evolution  from  them.  The  vital  part  of 
*he  air,  called  oxygene,  is  continually  produced  in  this  climate,  from  the 


4i2  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

perfpiratiori  of  vegetables  in  the  funfhine,  and  probably  ffom  the  action 
of  light  on  clouds,  or  on  water,  in  the  tropical  climates,  where  the  fun  has 
greater  power,  and  may  exert  fome  yet  unknown  laws  of  luminous  com- 
bination. Another  part  of  the  atmofphere,  which  is  called  azote,  is  perpe- 
tually fet  at  liberty  from  animal  and  Vegetable  bodies  by  putrefa&ion  or 
combuftion,  from  many  fprings  of  water,  from  volatile  alkali,  and  probably 
from  fixed  alkali,  of  which  there  is  an  exhauftlefs  fource  in  the  water  of 
the  ocean.  Both  thefe  component  parts  of  the  air  are  perpetually  again 
diminifhed  by  their  contact  with  the  foil,  which  covers  the  furface  of  the 
earth,  producing  nitre;  The  oxygene  is  diminilhed  in  the  produ&ion  of  all 
acids,  of  which  the  carbonic  and  muriatic  exift  in  great  abundance.  The 
azote  is  diminifhed  in  the  growth  of  animal  bodies,  of  which  it  conflitutes 
an  important  part,  and  in  its  combinations  with  many  other  natural  pro- 
ductions. 

They  are  both  probably  diminifhed,  in  immenfe  quantities,  by  uniting 
with  the  inflammable  air,  which  arifes  from  the  mud  of  rivers  and  lakes 
at  fome  feafons»  when  the  atmofphere  is  light;  the  oxygene  of  the  air  pro- 
ducing water,  and  the  azote  producing  volatile  alkali,  by  their  combina- 
tions with  this  inflammable  air.  At  other  feafons  of  the  year  thefe  prin- 
ciples may  again  change  their  combinations,  and  the  atmofpheric  air  be  re- 
produced. 

Mr.  Lavoifier  found  that  one  pound  of  chaf  coal,  in  burning,  confumed 
two  pounds  nine  ounces  of  vital  air,  or  oxygene.  The  confumption  of 
Vital  air,  in  the  procefs  of  making  red-lead,  may  readily  be  reduced  to  cal- 
culation ;  a  fmall  barrel  contains  about  twelve  hundred  weight  of  this  com- 
inodity;  I2OO  pounds  of  lead,  by  calcination,  abforb  about  144  pounds  of 
vital  air:  now,  as  a  cubic  foot  of  water  weighs  1000  averdupois  ounces, 
and  as  vital  air  is  above  800  times  lighter  than  water,  it  follows,  that  every 
barrel  of  red-lead  contains  nearly  2000  cubic  feet  of  vital  air.  If  this  can 
be  performed  in  miniature  in  a  fmall  oven,  what  may  not  be  done  in  the 
immenfe  elaboratories  of  nature! 

Thefe  great  elaboratories  of  nature  include  almofl  all  her  foffil,  as  well 
as  her  animal  and  vegetable  productions.  Dr.  Prieftley  obtained  air  of 
greater  or  lefs  purity,  both  vital  and  azotic,  from  almoft  all  the  foffil  fub- 
Jlances  he  fubje6led  to  experiment.  Four  ounce-weight  of  lava,  from  Ice- 
land, heated  in  an  earthen  retort,  yielded  twenty  ciuice-meafures  of  air. 

4  ounce-weight  of  lava  gave  20  ounce-meafures  of  air. 

7 bafaltes  .  .  .  104 

a toad-ftone  ...     40 ...... 

l£ granite  .  .  .     2O 

I  .  .  .  .  : elvain  ...     30 

7  gypfum  .  .  .  230  .  .  * * 

4 blue  flate  .  .  .  230 

4 clay  ...     20 .  . 

4 lime-flone  fpar  .  .  .   830 .   .  .  .   . 

5 .    lime-ftone       .  .  .1160  .  ......  t  ... 


Kofi  XXXIII.      ADDltlONAL  NOTES.  at* 

3  ounce-weight  of    chalk               gave  630  ounce-meafures  of  aif. 
3| white  iron-ore .  .  .  560 

4 dark  iron-ore  .  .  .  410 

\  .  .  . molybclena      ...     25 *  .  . 

\ ftream  tin        ...     .20  ...» » 

%  . fteatites  ...     40 

a barytes  ...     26 

i black  wad  ...     80 

4 fand-ftone  ...     75 

3 coal  .  .  .  700 

In  this  account  the  fixed  air  was  previoufly  extracted  from  the  lime-ftones 
by  acids,  and  the  heat  applied  was  much  lefs  than  was  neceflary  to  extract 
all  the  air  from  the  bodies  employed.  Add  to  this  the  known  quantities  of 
air  which  are  combined  with  the  calciform  ores,  as  the  ochres  of  iron,  man- 
ganefe,  calamy,  grey  ore  of  lead,  and  fome  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  great 
produ<Stion  of  air  in  volcanic  eruptions,  as  mentioned  in  note  on  Chunda, 
vol.  II.  and  of  the  perpetual  abforptions  and  evolutions  of  whole  oceans  of 
air  from  every  part  of  the  earth. 

But  there  would  feem  to  be  an  officina  aeris,  a  (hop  where  air  is  both 
manufactured  and  deftroyed  in  the  greateft  abundance  within  the  polar  cir- 
cles, as  will  hereafter  be  fpoken  of.  Can  this  be  effected  by  fome  yet  un- 
known law  of  the  congelation  of  aqueous  or  faline  fluids,  which  may  fet  at 
liberty  their  combined  heat,  and  convert  a  part  both  of  the  acid  and  alkali 
of  fea-water  into  their  component  airs?  Or,  on  the  contrary,  can  the  elec- 
tricity of  the  northern  lights  convert  inflammable  air  and  oxygenc  into  wa- 
ter, whilft  the  great  degree  of  cold  at  the  poles  unites  the  azote  with  fome 
other  bafe  ?  Another  officina  aeris,  or  manufacture  of  air,  would  feem  to 
exift  within  the  tropics,  or  at  the  line,  though  in  a  much  lefs  quantity  than 
at  the  poles,  owing,  perhaps,  to  the  action  of  the  fun's  light  on  the  moiflurc 
fufpended  in  the  air,  as  will  alfo  be  fpoken  of  hereafter ;  but  in  all  other  parts 
of  the  earth  thefe  abforptions  and  evolutions  of  air,  in  a  greater  or  lefs  de- 
gree, are  perpetually  going  on  in  inconceivable  abundance;  increafed,  pro- 
bably, and  diminiihed,  at  different  feafons  of  the  year,  by  the  approach  or 
retroceflion  of  the  fun's  light :  future  difcoveries  muft  elucidate  this  part  of 
the  fubjecl.  To  this  mould  be  added,  that  as  heat  and  electricity,  and  per- 
haps magnetifm,  are  known  to  difplace  air,  that  it  is  not  impofiible  but  that 
the  increafed  or  diminifhed  quantities  of  thefe  fluids  diffufed  in  the  atmof- 
phere,  may  increafe  its  weight  as  well  as  its  bulk:  fince  their  fpecific  attrac- 
tions, or  affinities  to  matter,  are  very  ftrong,  they  probably  alfo  poffefs  ge- 
neral gravitation  to  the  earth;  a  fubjecl  which  wants  further  inveftigation. 
See  note  XXVI. 

S  O  U  T  H-W  E  S  T   "WINDS. 

The  velocity  of  the  furface  of  the  earth,  in  moving  round  its  axis,  di-* 
miniflies  from  the  equator  to  the  poles.    Whence,  if  a  region  of  air,  in  this 


2f4  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Country,  fhould  be  fuddenly  removed  a  few  degrees  towards  the  north,  it 
muft  conftitute  a  weftern  wind,  becaufe,  from  the  velocity  it  had  previ- 
oufly  acquired  in  this  climate,  by  its  friclion  with  the  earth,  it  would,  for 
a  time,  move  quicker  than  the  furface  of  the  country  it  was  removed  to. 
The  contrary  muft  enfue  when  a  region  of  air  is  tranfported  from  this 
country  a  few  degrees  fouthward,  beeaufe  the  velocity  it  had  acquired  in 
this  climate  would  be  lefs  than  that  of  the  earth's  furface  where  it  was  re- 
moved to ;  whence  it  would  appear  to  conftitute  a  wind  from  the  eaft, 
while,  in  reality,  the  eminent  parts  of  the  earth  would  be  carried  againft 
the  too  flow  air.  But  if  this  tranfportation  of  air  from  fouth  to  north  be 
performed  gradually,  the  motion  of  the  wind  will  blow  in  the  diagonal  be- 
tween fouth  and  weft.  And,  on  the  contrary,  if  a  region  of  air  be  gra- 
dually removed  from  north  to  fouth,  it  would  alfo  blow  diagonally  between 
the  north  and  eaft;  from  whence  we  may  fafely  conclude,  that  all  our  winds 
in  this  country  which  blow  from  the  north  or  eaft,  or  any  point  between  them, 
confift  of  regions  of  air  brought  from  the  north ;  and  that  all  our  winds 
blowing  from  the  fouth  or  weft,  or  from  any  point  between  them,  are  re- 
gions of  air  brought  from  the  fouth. 

It  frequently  happens,  during  the  vernal  months,  that  after  a  north-caft 
wind  has  paffed  over  us  for  feveral  weeks,  during  which  time  the  barome- 
ter has  ftcod  at  above  30 \  inches,  it  becomes  fuddenly  fucceeded  by  a  fouth- 
weft  wind,  which  alfo  continues  feveral  weeks,  and  the  barometer  finks  to 
nearly  18  J-  inches.  Now,  as  two  inches  of  the  mercury  in  the  barometer 
balance  one-fifteenth  part  of  the  whole  atmofphere,  an  important  queftion 
here  prefents  itfelf:  What  is  become  of  all  ibis  air? 

I.  This  great  quantity  of  air  cannot  be  carried  in  a  fuperior  current  to- 
wards the  line,  while  the  inferior  current  flows  towards  the  poles,  becaufe 
then  it  would  equally  affedt  the  barometer,  which  fhould  not,  therefore,  fub- 
fidefrom  30,-  inches,  to  28*,  for  fix  weeks  together. 

a.  It  cannot  be  owing  to  the  air  having  loft  all  the  moifture  which  was 
previously  diffolved  in  it,  becaufe  thefe  warm  fouth-weft  winds  are  replete 
with  moifture  ;  and  the  cold  north-eaft  winds,  which  weigh  up  the  mercury 
in  the  barometer  to  31  inches,  confift  of  dry  air. 

3.  It  cannot  be  carried  over  the  polar  regions,  and  be  accumulated  on  the 
meridian  oppofite  to  us,  in  its  paffage  towards  the  line,  as  fuch  an  accumu- 
lation would  equal  one-fifteenth  of  the  whole  atmofphere,  and  cannot  be  fup- 
pofed  to  remain  in  that  fituation  for  fix  weeks  together.  • 

4.  It  cannot  depend  on  the  exiftence  of  tides  in  the  atmofphere,  fmce  it 
muft  then  correfpond  to  lunar  periods.     Nor  to  accumulations  of  air  from 
the  fpecific  levity  of  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmofphere,  fmce  its  degree  of 
fluidity  muft  correfpond  with  its  tenuity,  and  confequently  fuch  great  moun- 
tains of  air  cannot  be  fuppofed  to  exift  for  fo  many  weeks  together  as  the 
fouth-weft  winds  fometimes  continue. 

5.  It  remains,  therefore,  that  there  muft  be,  at  this  time,  a  great  and  fud- 
dcn  abforption  of  air,  in  the  polar  circle,  by  fome  unknown  operation  of  na- 
ture, and  that  the  fouth  wind  runs  in  to  fupply  the  deficiency.      Now,  as 
this  fouth  wind  confifts  of  air  brought  from  a  part  of  the  earth's  furface 


NOTE  XXXIII.        ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  *i$ 

which  moves  fafter  than  it  does  in  this  climate,  it  muft  have,  at  the  fame 
time,  a  direction  from  the  weft,  by  retaining  part  of  the  velocity  it  had 
prcvioufly  acquired,  Thefe  fouth-weft  winds,  coming  from  a  warmer 
country,  and  becoming  colder  by  their  contact  with  the  earth  of  this  cli- 
mate, and  by  their  expanfion  (fo  great  a  part  of  the  fuperincumbent  atmof- 
phere  having  vanifhed),  precipitate  their  moifture;  and  as  they  continue  for 
fcveral  weeks  to  be  abforbed  in  the  polar  circle,  would  feem  to  receive  a 
perpetual  fupply  from  the  tropical  regions,  efpecially  over  the  line,  as  will 
hereafter  be  fpoken  of. 

It  may  fometimes  happen  that  a  north-eaft  wind,  having  pafled  over  us, 
may  be  bent  down,  and  driven  back,  before  it  ha?  acquired  any  heat  from 
the  climate,  and  may  thus,  for  a  few  hours,  or  a  day,  have  a  fouth-weft  direc- 
tion, and  from  its  defcending  from  a  higher  region  of  the  atmofphere,  may 
poffefs  a  greater  degree  of  cold,  than  an  inferior  north-eaft  current  of  air. 

The  extreme  cold  of  Jan.  13,  1709,  at  Paris,  came  on  with  a  gentle  fouth 
wind,  and  was  diminifhed  when  the  wind  changed  to  the  north,  which  is  ac- 
counted for  by  Mr.  Homberg,  from  a  reflux  of  air  which  had  been  flowing 
for  fome  time  from  the  north.  Chemical  Eflays  by  R.  Watfon,  vol.  V. 
p.  i8z. 

It  may  happen  that  a  northreaft  current  may,  for  a  day  or  two,  pafs  over 
us,  and  produce  inceffant  rain,  by  mixing  with  the  inferior  fouth-weft  cur- 
rent; but  this,  as  well  as  the  former,  is  of  fhort  duration,  as  its  friction  will 
foon  carry  the  inferior  current  along  with  it,  and  dry  or  frofty  weather  will 
then  fucceed. 

NORTH-EAST  WINDS. 

The  north-eaft  winds  of  this  country  confift  of  regions  of  air  from  the 
north,  travelling  fometimes  at  the  rate  of  about  a  mile  in  two  minutes,  during 
the  vernal  months,  for  feveral  weeks  together,  from  the  polar  regions  to- 
ward the  fouth,  the  mercury  in  the  barometer  ftanding  above  30.  Thefc 
winds  confift  of  air  greatly  cooled  by  the  evaporation  of  the  ice  and  fnow  over 
which  it  paffes,  and,  as  they  become  warmer  by  their  contact  with  the 
earth  of  this  climate,  are  capable  of  diffolving  more  moifture  as  they  pafs 
along,  and  are  thence  attended  with  frofts  in  winter,  and  with  dry  hot  wea- 
ther in  fummer. 

I.  This  great  quantity  of  air  cannot  be  fupplied  by  fuperior  currents 
pafling  in  a  contrary  direction  from  fouth  to  north,  becaufe  fuch  currents 
muft,  as  they  arife  into  the  atmofphere  a  mile  or  two  high,  become  expofed 
to  fo  great  cold  as  to  occafion  them  to  depofit  their  moifture,  which  would 
fall  through  the  inferior  current  upon  the  earth  in  fome  part  of  their  paf- 
fage. 

a.  The  whole  atmofphere  muft  have  increafed  in  quantity,  becaufe  it  ap- 
pears by  the  barometer  that  there  exifts  one-fifteenth  part  more  air  over  u« 
for  many  weeks  together,  which  could  not  be  thus  accumulated  by  differ- 
ence of  temperature  in  refpect  to  heat,  or  by  any  aeroftatic  laws  at  prefent 
known,  or  by  any  lunar  influence. 


ai6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

From  whence  it  would  appear  that  immenfe  mafies  of  air  were  fet  at  li- 
berty from  their  combinations  with  folid  bodies,  along  with  a  fuffident 
quantity  of  combined  heat,  within  the  polar  circle,  or  in  fome  region  to  the 
north  of  us;  and  that  they  thus  perpetually  increafe  the  quantity  of  the  at- 
mofphere;  and  that  this  is  again,  at  certain  times,  re-abforbed,  or  enters  into 
new  combinations  at  the  line  or  tropical  regions.  By  which  wonderful 
contrivance  the  atmofphere  is  perpetually  renewed,  and  rendered  fit  for  the 
fupport  of  animal  and  vegetable  life. 

SOUTH-EAST    WINDS. 

The  fouth-eaft  winds  of  this  country  confift  of  air  from  the  north,  which 
had  parted  by  us,  or  over  us,  and  before  it  had  obtained  the  velocity  of  the 
earth's  furface  in  this  climate,  had  been  driven  back,  owing  to  a  deficiency 
of  air  now  commencing  at  the  polar  regions.  Hence  thefe  are  generally 
dry  or  freezing  winds,  and  if  they  fucceed  north-eaft  winds,  fhould  prog- 
nofticate  a  change  of  wind  from  north-eaft  to  fouth-weft:  the  barometer  is 
generally  about  30.  They  are  fometimes  attended  with  cloudy  weather,  or 
rain,  owing  to  their  having  acquired  an  increafed  degree  of  warmth  and 
moifture  before  they  became  retrograde;  or  to  their  being  mixed  with  air 
from  the  fouth. 

a.  Sometimes  thefe  fouth-eaft  winds  confift  of  a  vertical  eddy  of  north- 
eaft  air,  without  any  mixture  of  fouth-weft  air;  in  that  cafe  the  barometer 
continues  above  30,  and  the  weather  is  dry  or  frofty  for  four  or  five  days  to- 
gether. 

It  mould  here  be  obferved,  that  air  being  an  elaftic  fluid,  muft  be  more 
liable  to  eddies  than  water,  and  that  theft  eddies  muft  extend  into  cylinders, 
or  vortexes,  of  greater  diameter,  and  that  if  a  vertical  eddy  of  north-eaft  air 
be  of  fmall  diameter,  or  has  palled  but  a  little  way  to  the  fouth  of  us  before 
its  return,  it  will  not  have  gained  the  velocity  of  the  earth's  furface  to  the 
fouth  of  us,  and  will,  in  confequence,  become  a  fouth-eaft  wind.  But  if  the 
vertical  eddy  be  of  large  diameter,  or  has  paffed  much  to  the  fouth  of  us,  it 
will  have  acquired  velocity  from  its  friction  with  the  earth's  furface  to  the 
fouth  of  us,  and  will,  in  confequence,  on  its  return,  become  a  fouth-wefl 
wind,  producing  great  cold. 

NORTH-WEST    WINDS. 

There  feem  to  be  three  fources  of  the  north-weft  winds  of  this  hemifphere 
of  the  earth.  I.  When  a  portion  of  fouthern  air,  which  was  pafitng  over 
us,  is  driven  back  by  accumulation  of  new  air  in  the  polar  regions.  In  this 
cafe  I  fuppofe  they  are  generally  moift  or  rainy  winds,  with  the  barometer 
under  30;  and  if  the  wind  had  previoufly  been  in  the  fouth-weft,  it  would 
feem  to  prognofticate  a  change  to  the  north-eaft. 

2.  If  a  current  of  north  wind  is  pafling  over  us  but  a  few  miles  high, 
without  any  eafterly  dire&ion,  and  is  bent  down  upon  us,  it  muft  immedi- 
ately pofiefs  a  wefterly  direction,  becaufe  it  will  now  move  fafter  than  the 


NOTE  XXXIII.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  ei)T 

i'urface  of  the  earth  where  it  arrives;  and  thus  becomes  changed  from  4 
north-eaft  to  a  north-weft  wind.  The  defcent  of  a  north-eaft  current  of 
air  producing  a  north-weft  wind,  may  continue  fome  days  with  clear  or 
freezing  weather,  as  it  may  be  limply  owing  to  a  vertical  eddy  of  north-eaft 
q.ir,  as  will  be  fpoken  of  below.  It  may  otherwife  be  forced  down  by  a  current 
of  ibuth-weft  wind  paffing  over  it;  and  in  this  cafe  it  will  be  attended  with 
rain  for  a  few  days,  by  the  mixture  of  the  two  airs  of  different  degrees  of 
heat;  and  will  prognoftjcate  a  change  of  wind  from  north-eaft  to  fouth-weft, 
if  the  wind  was  previoufiy  in  the  north-eaft  quarter. 

3.  On  the  eaftern  coaft  of  North-America  the  north-weft  winds  bring 
froit,  as  the  north-eaft  winds  do  in  this  country,  as  appears  from  variety  of 
teftimony.  This  feems  to  happen  from  a  vertical  fpiral  eddy  made  in  the 
ijtmolphere,  between  the  fhpre  and  the  ridge  of  mountains  which  form  the 
fpine,  or  back-bone,  of  that  continent.  If  a  current  of  water  runs  along 
the  hypothenufe  of  a  triangle,  an  eddy  will  be  made  in  the  included  angle, 
ivhich  will  turn  round  like  a  water-wheel  as  the  ftream  paffes  in  contact 
with  one  edge  of  it.  The  fame  muft  happen  when  a  fheet  of  air,  flowing 
ijlong  from  the  north-eaft,  rifes  from  the  fhore,  in  a  ftraight  line,  to  the 
iumiiut  of  the  Apalachian  mountains  ;  a  part  of  the  ftream  of  north-eaft  air 
will  flow  over  the  mountains,  another  part  will  revert,  and  circulate  fpi- 
rally,  between  the  fummit  of  the  country  and  the  eaftern  fhore,  continuing 
to  move  toward  the  fouth;  and  thus  be  changed  from  a  north-eaft  to  * 
north-weft  wind. 

This  vertical  fpiral  eddy,  having  been  in  contact  with  the  cold  fummits 
of  thefe  mountains,  and  defcending  from  higher  parts  of  the  atmofphere, 
will  lofe  part  of  its  heat,  and  thus  conftitute  one  caufe  of  the  greater  cold- 
nefs  of  the  eaftern  fides  of  North-  America  than  of  the  European  fhores  op- 
pofite  to  them,  which  is  faid  to  be  equal  to  twelve  degrees  of  north  lati- 
tude, which  is  a  wonderful  facft,  not  otherwife  eafy  to  be  explained,  fince 
the  heat  of  the  fprings  at  Philadelphia  is  faid  to  be  52,  which  is  greater 
than  the  medium  heat  of  the  earth  in  this  country. 

The  exiftence  of  vertical  eddies,  or  great  cylinders  of  air  rolling  on  the 
furface  of  the  earth,  is  agreeable  to  the  obfervations  of  the  conftruclors  of 
wind-mills,  who,  on  this  idea,  place  the  area  of  the  fails  leaning  backwards, 
inclined  to  the  horizon,  and  believe  that  then  they  have  greater  power 
than  when  they  are  placed  quite  perpendicularly.  The  fame  kind  ot' 
rolling  cylinders  of  water  obtain  in  rivers,  owing  to  the  fri&ion  of  the  wa- 
ter agiiinft  the  earth  at  their  bottoms,  as  is  known  by  bodies  having  been 
observed  to  float  upon  their  furfaces  quicker  than  when  immerfed  to  a  cer- 
tain depth.  Thcfe  vertical  eddies  of  air  ptobably  exift  all  over  the  earth's 
furface,  but  particularly  at  the  bottom  or  fides  of  mountains,  and  more  fo, 
<  probably,  in  the  courfe  of  the  fouth-weft  than  of  the  north-eaft  winds,  be- 
c-iufe  the  foimer  fall  from  an  eminence,  as  it  were,  on  a  part  of  the  earth 
where  there  is  a  deficiency  of  the  quantity  of  air,  36  is  fliewn  by  the  linking 
of  the  barometer:  whereas  the  latter  are  pufhed  or  fqueezed  forward  by  an 
adcatioii  to  the  atmofphere  behind  them,  as  appears  by  the  rifing  of  the  b»» 


TART  I.  2  F 


»i8  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 


TRADE-WINDS. 

A  column  of  heated  air  becomes  lighter  than  before,  and  will  therefore 
afccnd,  by  the  preffure  of  the  cold  air  which  furrounds  it,  like  a  cork  in 
water,  or  like  heated  fmoke  in  a  chimney. 

Now,  as  the  fun  pafies  twice  over  the  equator  for  once  over  either  tropic, 
the  equator  has  not  time  to  become  cool ;  and,  on  this  account,  it  is  in  ge- 
neral hotter  at  the  line  than  at  the  tropics;  and,  therefore,  the  air  over  the 
line,  except  in  fome  few  inftances  hereafter  to  be  mentioned,  continues  to 
afcend  at  all  feafons  of  the  year,  preffed  upwards  by  regions  of  air  brought 
from  the  tropics. 

This  air,  thus  brought  from  the  tropics  to  the  equator,  would  conftitutc 
a  north  wind  on  one  fide  of  the  equator,  and  a  fouth  wind  on  the  other ; 
but  as  the  furface  of  the  earth  at  the  equator  moves  quicker  than  the  fur- 
face  of  the  earth  at  the  tropics,  it  is  evident  that  a  region  of  air  brought 
from  either  tropic  to  the  equator,  and  which  had  previoufly  only  acquired 
the  velocity  of  the  earth's  furface  at  the  tropics,  will  now  move  too  flow 
for  the  earth's  furface  at  the  equator,  and  will  thence  appear  to  move  in  a 
direction  contrary  to  the  motion  .of  the  earth.  Hence  the  trade-winds, 
though  they  confift  of  regions  of  air  brought  from  the  north  on  one  fide  of 
the  line,  and  from  the  fouth  on  the  other,  will  appear  to  have  the  diagonal 
direction  of  north-eaft  and  fouth-eaft  winds. 

Now,  it  is  commonly  believed  that  there  are  fuperior  currents  of  air  pafs- 
ing  over  thefe  north-eaft  and  fouth-eaft  currents  in  a  contrary  direction, 
and  which,  defcending  near  the  tropics,  produce  vertical  whirlpools  of  air. 
An  important  queftion  here  again  prefents  itfelf :  What  becomes  of  the  moijlure 
ivhich  this  heated  air  ought  to  Jepoftt,  as  it  cools  in  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmof- 
phcre,  in  its  journey  to  the  tropics  ?  It  has  been  fhewn  by  Dr.  Prieftley  and 
Mr.  Ingenhouz,  that  the  green  matter  at  the  bottom  of  cifterns,  and  the 
frefh  leaves  of  plants  immerfed  in  water,  give  out  confiderable  quantities  of 
vital  air  in  the  funfhine  ;  that  is,  the  perfpirable  matter  of  plants  (which  is 
water  much  divided  in  its  egrefs  from  their  minute  pores),  becomes  decom- 
pofed  by  the  fun's  light,  and  converted  into  two  kinds  of  air,  the  vital  and 
inflammable  airs.  The  moifture  contained  or  diflblved  in  the  afcending 
heated  air  at  the  line,  muft  exift  in  great  tenuity ;  and,  by  being  expofed  to 
the  great  light  of  the  fun  in  that  climate,  the  water  may  be  decompofed, 
and  the  new  airs  fpread  on  the  atmofphere  from  the  line  to  the  poles. 

I.  From  there  being  no  conftant  depofition  of  rains  in  the  ufual  courfe  of 
the  trade-winds,  it  would  appear  that  the  water  rifmg  at  the  line  is  decom- 
pofed in  its  afcent. 

a.  From  the  obfervations  of  M.  Bougner,  on  the  mountain  Pinchinca, 
one  of  the  Cordelieres  immediately  under  the  line,  there  appears  to  be  no 
condenfible  vapour  above  three  or  four  miles  high.  Now,  though  the  at- 
mofphere at  that  height  may  be  cold  to  a  very  confiderable  degree,  yet  its 
total  deprivation  of  condenfible  vapour  would  feem  to  Ihew,  that  its  water 
was  decompofed,  as  there  are  no  experiments  to  evince  that  any  degree  of 


NOTE  XXXIII.      ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  219 

cold  hitherto  known  has  been  able  to  deprive  air  of  its  moifture;  and  great 
abundance  of  fnow  is  depofited  from  the  air  that  flows  to  the  polar  regions, 
though  it  is  expofed  to  no  greater  degrees  of  cold  in  its  journey  thither 
than  probably  exifts  at  four  miles  height  in  the  atmofpher.e  at  the  line. 

3.  The  hygrometer  of  Mr.  Sduffure  alfo  pointed  to  drynefs  as  he  afcended 
into  rarer  air ;  the  fingle  hair  of  which  it  was  conftru&ed,  contracting  from 
deficiency  of  moifture.     Efiais  fur  1'Hygromet.  p.  143. 

From  thefe  obfervations  it  appears,  either  that  rare  and  cold  air  requires 
more  moifture  to  faturate  it  than  denfe  air,  or  that  the  moifture  becomes 
decompofed,  and  converted  into  air,  as  it  afcends  into  thefe  cold  and  rare 
regions  of  the  atmofphere. 

4.  There  fcems  fome  analogy  between  the  circumftance  of  air  being  pro- 
duced or  generated  in  the  cold  parts  of  the  atmofphere,  both  at  the  line 
and  at  the  poles. 

MONSOONS  AND   TORNADOES. 

I.  In  the  Arabian  and  Indian  feas  are  winds  which  blow  fix  months  one 
way,  and  fix  months  the  other,  and  are  called  Monfoons ;  by  the  accidental 
difpofitions  of  land  and  fea,  it  happens,  that  in  fome  places  the  air  near 
the  tropic  is  fuppofed  to  become  warmer  when  the  fun  is  vertical  over  it, 
than  at  the  line.  The  air  in  thefe  places  confequently  afcends,  preffed  upon 
one  fide  by  the  north-eaft  regions  of  air-,  and  on  the  other  fide  by  the  fouth- 
weft  regions  of  air.  For  as  the  air  brought  from  the  fouth  has  previoufly 
obtained  the  velocity  of  the  earth's  furface  at  the  line,  it  moves  fafter  than 
the  earth's  furface  near  the  tropic,  where  it  now  arrives,  and  becomes  a 
fouth-weft  wind,  while  the  air  from  the  north  becomes  a  north-eaft  wind, 
as  before  explained.  Thefe  two  winds  do  not  fo  quietly  join  and  afcend  as. 
the  north-eaft  and  fouth-eaft  winds,  which  meet  at  the  line  with  equal 
warmth  and  velocity,  and  form  the  trade-winds;  but  as  they  meet  in  con- 
trary directions  before  they  afcend,  and  cannot  be  fuppofed  accurately  to  ba- 
lance each  other,  a  rotatory  motion  will  be  produced^  as  they  afcend,  like 
water  falling  through  a  hole,  and  an  horizontal  or  fpiral  eddy  is  the  con- 
fequence;  thefe  eddies  are  more  or  lefs  rapid,  and  are  called  Tornadoes  in 
their  moft  violent  ftate,  railing  water  from  the  ocean  in  the  weft,  or  fand 
from  the  deferts  of  the  eaft ;  in  lefs  violent  degrees,  they  only  mix  together 
the  two  currents  of  north-eaft  and  fouth-weft  air,  and  produce,  by  this 
means,  inceffant  rains,  as  the  air  of  the  north-eaft  acquires  fome  of  the 
heat  from  the  fouth-weft  wind,  as  explained  in  Note  XXV.  This  cir- 
cumftance of  the  eddies  produced  by  the  monfoon-winds,  was  fecn  by  Mr. 
Bruce  in  Abyffinia:  he  relates,  that  for  many  fucceflive  mornings,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  rainy  monfoon,  he  obferved  a  cloud,  of  apparently 
fmall  dimenfion,  whirling  round  with  great  rapidity,  and,  in  a  few  minutes, 
the  heavens  became  covered  with  dark  clouds,  with  confequent  great  rains. 
See  note  on  Canto  III.  1.  129. 

a.  But  it  is  not  only  at  the  place  where  the  air  afcends,  at  the  northern 
extremity  of  the  rainy  monfoon,  and  where  it  forms  tornadoes,  as  obferved 


fiio  BOtANlC  GARDEN,  PAftf  T, 

above  by  Mr.  Bruce,  but  over  a  great  trad  of  country,  fcveral  degree*  irt 
length,  in  certain  parts,  as  in  the  Arabian  fea,  a  perpetual  rain  for  feveral 
months  defcends,  fimilar  to  what  happens*  for  weeks  together,  in  our  own 
climate,  in  a  lefs  degree,  during  the  fouth-weft  winds.  Another  important 
queftion  prefents  itfelf  here :  If  the  climate  to  which  this  fuuth-wejl  wind  ar~ 
rives  is  not  colder  than  that  it  comes  from,  why  ftould  it  di'pojit  its  moijlure  during 
its  iufjolf  journey  ?  If  it  be  a  colder  climate,  why  does  it  come  thither?  The. 
totnadoes  of  air  above  defcribed  can  extend  but.  a  little  way,  and  it  is  cot 
eafy  to  conceive,  that  a  fuperior  cold  current  of  air  can  mix  with  an  infe- 
rior one,  and  thus  produce  fhowers  over  ten  degrees  of  country,  fince,  at 
about  three  miles  high,  there  is  perpetual  froft  ;  and  what  can  induce  theffl 
narrow  and  fhallow  currents  to  flow  over  each  other  fo  many  hundred 
miles? 

Though  the  earth,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  this  monfoon$  may  ba 
jrnore  heated  by  certain  circumftances  of  fituation  than  at  the  line,  yet  it 
feems  probable  that  the  intermediate  country  between  that  and  the  line, 
hiay  continue  colder  than  the  line  (as  in  other  parts  of  the  earth),  and  hence, 
that  the  air  coming  from  the  line  to  fupply  this  afcent,  or  deftru&ion  of 
air,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  monfoon,  will  be  cooled  all  the  way 
in  its  approach,  and,  in  confequence,  depofit  its  water.  It  feems  proba- 
ble, that  at  the  northern  extremity  of  this  monfoon,  where  the  tornadoes 
or  hurricanes  exift,  that  the  air  not  only  afcends,  but  is  in  part  converted 
into  water,  or  otherwife  diminifhed  in  quantity,  as  no  account  is  given  of 
the  exiflence  of  any  fuperior  currents  of  it. 

As  the  fouth-weft  winds  are  always  attended  with  a  light  atmofphcre,  an 
incipient  vacancy,  or  a  great  diminution  of  air,  muft  have  taken  place  to 
the  northward  of  them,  in  all  parts  of  the  earth  wherever  they  exift;  and 
a  depofition  of  their  moifture  fucceeds  their  being  cooled  by  the  climate 
they  arrive  at,  and  not  by  a  contrary  current  of  cold  air  over  them,  fince, 
in  that  cafe,  the  barometer  would  not  fink.  They  may  thus,  in  our  own 
country,  be  termed  monfoons  without  very  regular  periods, 

3.  Another  caufe  of  TORNADOES,  independent  of  the  monfoons,  is  inge- 
fiioufiy  explained  by  Dr,  Franklin;  when>  in  the  tropical  countries,  a  ftra- 
tum  of  inferior  air  becomes  fo  heated  by  its  contact:  with  the  warm  earth, 
that  its  expanfion  is  increafed  more  than  is  equivalent  to  the  preffure  of 
the  ftratum  of  air  over  it ;  or  when  the  fuperior  ftratum  becomes  more 
condenfed  by  cold  than  the  inferior -one  by  preffure,  the  upper  region  will 
defcend,  and  the  lower  one  afcend.  In  this  fituation,  if  one  part  of  the 
atmofphere  be  hotter,  from  fome  fortuitous  circumftances,  or  has  lefs  pref- 
fure over  it,  the  lower  ftratum  will  begin  to  afcend  at  this  part,  and  re- 
femble  water  falling  through  a  hole,  as  mentioned  above.  If  the  lower  re- 
gion of  air  was  going  forwards  with  considerable  velocity,  it  will  gain  an 
eddy  by  rifing  up  this  hole  in  the  incumbent  heavy  air,  fo  that  the  whirl- 
pool, or  tornado,  has  not  only  its  progreffive  velocity,  but  its  circular  one 
alfo,  which  thus  lifts  up  or  overturns  every  thing  within  its  fpiral  whirL 
By  the  weaker  whirlwinds  in  this  country,  the  trees  are  fometimes  thrown 
down  in  a  line  of  only  twenty  or  forty  yards  in  breadth,  making  a 


Not  a  fcXXttr.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 


kind  of  avenue  through  a  country.  In  the  Weft-Indies  the  fea  rife*  lik« 
a  cone  in  the  whirl,  and  is  met  by  black  clouds,  produced  by  the  cold  up* 
per  air  and  the  warm  lower  air  being  rapidly  mixed;  wherlce  are  produced 
the  great  and  fudden  rains  called  water-fpouts;  while  the  upper  and 
lower  airs  exchange  their  plus  or  minus  electricity  in  perpetual  lightnings. 

LAND   AND    SEA    BREEZES. 

The  fea,  being  a  tranfparent  mafs,  is  lefs  heated  at  its  furface  by  the  fun's 
irays  than  the  land,  and  its  continual  change  of  furface  contributes  to  prc- 
ferve  a  greater  uniformity  in  the  heat  of  the  air  which  hangs  over  it* 
Hence  the  furface  of  the  tropical  iflands  is  more  heated  during  the  day  than 
the  fea  that  furrounds  them,  and  cools  more  in  the  night,  by  its  greater 
elevation  ;  whence,  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  lands  of  the  tropical  iflands 
have  been  much  heated  by  the  fun,  the  air  over  them  afcends,  prefled  up- 
wards by  the  cooler  air  of  the  incircling  ocean;  in  the  morning,  again,  the 
land  becoming  cooled  more  than  the  fea,  the  air  over  it  defcends  by  its  in» 
crcafed  gravity,  and  blows  over  the  ocean,  near  its  fhorcs. 

CONCLUSION* 

1.  There   are   various   irregular   winds  besides  thofe  above  defcribedj 
which  confift  of  horizontal  or  vertical  eddies  of  air,  owing  to  the  inequality 
of  the  earth's  furface,  or  the  juxtapofition  of  the   fea.     Other  irregular 
winds  have  their  origin  from  increafed  evaporation  of  water,  or  its  fudden 
^evaporation  and  defcent  in  fhowers;  others  from  the  partial  expanfion  and 
condenfution   of  air  by  heat  and  cold;  by  the  accumulation  or  defect  of 
electric  fluid,  or  to  the  air's  new  production  or  abforption,  occafioned  by  lo- 
cal caufes  not  yet  difcovered.     See  notes  VII.  and  XXV. 

2.  There  feem  to  exift  only  two  original  winds:  one  confiding  of  air 
brought  from  the  north,  and  the  other  of  air  brought  from  the  fouth.     The 
former  of  thefe  winds  has  alfo  generally  an  apparent  direction  from  the  eaft, 
and  the  latter  from  the  weft,  arifing  from  the  different  velocities  of  the  earth's 
furface*     All  the  other  winds  above  defcribed  are  deflections  or  retrogref- 
lions  of  fome  parts  of  thefe  currents  of  air  from  the  north  or  fouth. 

3.  One  fifteenth  part  of  the  atmofphere  is.  occafionally  deftroyed,   and 
occafionally  reproduced,  by  unknown  caufes.    Thefe  caufes  are  brought  into 
immediate  activity  over  a  great  part  of  the  furface  of  the  earth,  at  nearly 
the  fame   time,  but  always  more   powerful  to  the  northward  than  to  the 
fouthward  of  any  given  place,  and  would  hence  feem  to  have  their  princi- 
pal effect  in  the  polar  circles;  exifting,  neverthelefs,  though  with  lefs  power, 
toward  the  tropics  or  at  the  line. 

For  when  the  north-eaft  wind  blows  the  barometer  rifes,  fometimes  from 
28  \  inches  to  30-,  which  mews  a  great  new  generation  of  air  in  the  north; 
and  when  the  fouth-weft  wind  blows  the  barometer  finks  as  much,  which 
Ihews  a  great  deftruction  of  air  in  the  north.  But  as  the  north-eaft  winds 
fometimes  continue  for  five  or  fix  weeks>  the  newly  generated  air  muft  be 


6*2  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

deftroyed  at  thofe  times  in  the  warmer  climates  to  the  fouth  of  us,  or  circu- 
late in  fuperior  currents,  which  has  been  {hewn  to  be  improbable  from  its 
not  depofiting  its  water.  And  as  the  fouth-weft  winds  fometimes  continue 
for  fome  weeks,  chere  muft  be  a  generation  of  air  to  the  fouth  at  thofe  times, 
or  fuperior  currents,  which  laft  has  been  fhewn  to  be  improbable. 

4.  The  north-eaft  winds,  being  generated  about  the  poles,  are  pufiied  for- 
wards towards  the  tropics  or  line,  by  the  preffure  from  behind,  and  hence 
they  become  warmer,  as  explained  in  note  VII.  as  well  as  by  their  coming 
into  contact  with  a  warmer  part  of  the  earth,  which  contributes  to  make 
thefe  winds  greedily  abforb  moifture  in  their  paflfage.     On  the  contrary,  the 
fouth-weft  winds,  as  the  atmofphere  is  fuddenly  diminifhed  in  the  polar  re- 
gions, are  drawn,  as  it  were,  into  an  incipient  vacancy,  and  become,  there- 
fore, expanded  in  their  paffage,  and  thus  generate  cold,  as  explained  in  note 
VII.  and  are  thus  induced  to  part  with  their  moiflure,  as  well  as  by  their 
contact  with  a  colder  part  of  the  earth's  furface.     Add  to  this,  that  the  dif- 
ference in  the  found  of  the  north-eaft  and  fouth-weft  winds  may  depend  on 
the  former  being  pufhed  forwards  by  a  prcffure  behind,  and  the  latter  fall- 
ing, as  it  were,  into  a  partial  or  incipient  vacancy  before ;  whence  the  for- 
iner  becomes  more  condenfed,  and   the  latter  more  rarefied,  as  it  paffes. 
There  is  a  whiftle  termed  a  lark-call,  which  confifts  of  a  hollow   cylinder 
of  tin-plate,  clofed  at  each  end,  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  a  quar- 
ter of  an  inch  high,  with  oppofite  holes,  about  the  fize  of  a  goofe-quill, 
through  the  centre  of  each  end ;  if  this  lark-whiftle  be  held  between  the 
lips,  the  found  of  it  is  manifeftly  different   \vhen   the  breath   is   forcibly 
Mown  through  it  from  within  outwards,  and  when  it  is  fucked  from  with- 
out inwards.     Perhaps  this  might  be  worthy  the  attention  of  organ  build- 
ers. 

5.  A  flop  is  put  to  this  new  generation  of  air,  when  about  a  fifteenth  of 
the  whole  is  produced,  by  its  increafing  preffure;  and  a  fimilar  boundary  is 
fixed  to  its  abforption  or  dcftruction  by  the  clecreafe  of  atmofpheric  preffure. 
As  water  requires  more  heat  to  convert  it  into  vapour  under  a  heavy  atmof- 
phere than  under  a  light  one,  fo  in  letting  off  the  water  from  muddy  fifh- 
ponds,  great  quantities  of  air-bubbles   are  feen  to  afcend  from  the  bottom, 
which  were  prcvioufly  confined  there  by  the  preffure  of  the  water.     Similar 
bubbles  of  inflammable  air  are  feen  to  arife  from  lakes  in  many  feafons  of 
the  year,  when  the  atmofphere  fuddenly  becomes  light. 

6.  The  increafed  abforptions  and  evolutions  of  air  muft,  like  its  fimple 
cxpanfions,  depend  much  on  the  prefence  or  abfence  of  heat  and  light,  and 
will  hence,  in  refpect  to  the  times  and  places  of  its  production  and  deftruc- 
tion,  be  governed  by  the  approach  or  retroceffion  of  the  fun,  and  on  the 
temperature,  in  regard  to  heat,  of  various  latitudes,  and  parts  of  the  fame 
latitude,  fo  well  explained  by  Mr.  Kirwan. 

7.  (Though  the  immediate  caufe  of  the  deftruction  or  re-production  of 
great  maffes  of  air  at  certain  times,  when   the  wind  changes  from  north 
to  fouth,  or  from  fouth  to  north,  cannot  yet  be  afcertained;  yet,  as  there 
appears  greater  difficulty  in  accounting  for  this  change  of  wind  from  any 
ether  known  cauies,  we  may  ftill  fufpect  that  there  exifts  in  the  arctic  and 


NOTE  XXXIII.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  223 

antarctic  circles,  a  BEAR  or  DRAGON,  yet  unknown  to  philofophers,  which, 
at  times,  fuddenly  drinks  up,  and  as  fuddenly,  at  other  times,  vomits  out  one- 
fifteenth  part  of  the  atmofphere;  and  hope  that  this  or  fome  future  age  will 
learn  how  to  govern  and  domefticate  a  monfter  which  might  be  rendered  of 
fuch  important  fervice  to  mankind. 

INSTRUMENTS. 

If,  along  with  the  ufual  regifters  of  the  weather,  obfervations  were  made 
on  the  winds  in  many  parts  of  the  earth,  with  the  three  following  inftru- 
ments,  which  might  be  conftructed  at  no  great  expence,  fome  ufeful  infor- 
mation might  be  acquired. 

I.  To  mark  the  hour  when  the  wind  changes  from  north-eaft  to  fouth- 
weft,  and  the  contrary.  This  might  be  managed  by  making  a  communica- 
tion from  the  vane  of  a  weather-cock  to  a  clock,  in  fuch  a  manner,  that  if 
the  vane  mould  revolve  quite  round,  a  tooth  on  its  revolving  axis  mould  flop 
the  clock,  or  put  back  a  fmall  bolt  on  the  edge  of  a  wheel,  revolving  once 
in  twenty -four  hours* 

a.  To  difcover  whether  in  a  year  more  air  patted  from  north  to  fouth, 
or  the  contrary.  This  might  be  effected  by  placing  a  wind-mill-fail  of  cop- 
per, about  nine  inches  diameter,  in  a  hollow  cylinder,  about  fix  inches  long, 
open  at  both  ends,  and  fixed  on  an  eminent  fituation,  exactly  north  and 
fouth.  Thence  only  a  part  of  the  north-eaft  and  fouth-weft  currents  would 
affect  the  fail  fo  as  to  turn  it;  and  if  its  revolutions  were  counted  by  an  adapt- 
ed machinery,  as  the  fail  would  turn  one  way  with  the  north  currents  of 
air,  and  the  contrary  one  with  the  fouth  currents,  the  advance  of  the  counting 
finger  either  way,  would  mew  which  wind  had  prevailed  moft  at  the  end  of 
the  year. 

3.  To  difcover  the  rolling  cylinders  of  air,  the  vane  of  a  weather-cock 
might  be  fo  fufpended  as  to  dip  or  rife  vertically,  as  welj  as  to  have  its  hori- 
zontal rotation. 

RECAPITULATION. 

NORTH-EAST  WINDS  confift  of  air  flowing  from  the  north,  where  it 
feems  to  be  occafionally  produced ;  has  an  apparent  direction  from  the  eaft, 
owing  to  its  not  having  acquired  in  its  journey  the  increafing  velocity  of  the 
earth's  furface ;  thefe  winds  are  analogous  to  the  trade-winds  between  the 
tropics,  and  frequently  continue,  in  the  vernal  months,  for  four  and  fix  weeks 
together,  with  a  high  barometer,  and  fair  or  frofty  weather,  a.  They  fome- 
times  confift  of  fouth-weft  air,  which  had  paffed  by  us  or  over  us,  driven 
back  by  a  new  accumulation  of  air  in  the  north.  Thefe  continue  but  a  day 
or  two,  and  are  attended  with  rain.  See  note  XXV. 

SOUTH-WEST  WINDS  confift  of  air  flowing  from  the  fouth,  and  feeming 
occafionally  abforbed  at  its  arrival  to  the  more  northern  latitudes.  It  has  a 
real  dire«9.ion  from  the  weft,  owing  to  its  not  having  loft  in  its  journey  the 
greater  vtlocity  it  had  acquired  from  the  earth's  furface,"  from  whence  it 


424  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I, 

came.  Thefe  winds  are  analogous  to  the  monfoons  between  the  tropics, 
and  frequently  continue  for  four  or  fix  weeks  together,  with  a  low  barometer, 
and  rainy  weather,  2.  They  fometimes  confift  of  north-eaft  air,  which  had 
paffed  by  us  or  over  us,  which  becomes  retrograde  by  a  commencing  defi- 
ciency of  air  in  the  north.  Thefe  winds  continue  but  a  day  or  two,  attended 
with  fevcrer  froft,  with  a  finking  barometer  ;  their  cold  being  increafed  by 
their  expanfion,  as  they  return,  into  an  incipient  vacancy. 

NORTH-WEST  WINDS  confift,  firft,  of  fouth-weft  winds,  which  have 
paffed  over  us,  bent  down,  and  driven  back,  towards  the  fouth,  by  newly 
generated  northern  air.  They  coptinue  but  a  day  or  two,  and  are  attended 
with  rain  or  clouds.  2.  They  confift  of  north-eaft  winds  bent  down  from 
the  higher  parts  of  the  atmofphere,  and  having  there  acquired  a  greater 
velocity  than  the  earth's  furface,  are  frofty  and  fair.  3.  They  confift  of 
north-eaft  winds  formed  into  a  vertical  fpiral  eddy,  as  on  the  eaftern  coafts 
cf  North-America,  and  bring  fevere  froft. 

SOUTH-EAST  WINDS  confift,  firft,  of  north-eaft  winds  become  retrograde; 
continue  for  a  day  or  two;  frofty  or  fair;  finking  barometer,  2.  They 
confift  of  north-eaft  winds  formed  into  a  vertical  eddy,  not  a  fpiral  one;  froft 
or  fair. 

NORTH  WINDS  confift,  firft,  of  air  flowing  flowly  from  the  north,  fo  that 
they  acquire  the  velocity  of  the  earth's  furface  as  they  approach;  are  fair 
or  frofty;  feldom  occur.  2.  They  confift  of  retrograde  fouth  winds;  thefe 
continue  but  a  day  or  two;  are  preceded  by  fouth-weft  winds;  and  arc 
generally  fucceeded  by  north-eaft  winds;  cloudy  or  rainy;  barometer  riling. 

SOUTH  WINDS  confift,  firft,  of  air  flpwing  flowly  from  the  fouth,  lofing 
their  previous  weftern  velocity  by  the  friction  of  the  earth's  furface  as  they 
approach;  moift;  feldom  occur.  2.  They  coufift  of  retrograde  north  winds; 
thefe  continue  but  a  day  or  two;  are  preceded  by  north-eaft  winds;  and 
generally  fucceeded  by  fouth-weft  winds,  colder,  barometer  finking. 

E/VST  WINDS  confift  of  air  brought  haftily  from  the  north,  and  not  im- 
pelled farther  fouthward,  owing  to  a  fudden  beginning  abforption  of  air  in 
the  northern  regions,  very  cold,  barometer  high,  generally  fucceeded  by 
fouth-weft  wind. 

WEST  WINDS  confift  of  air  brought  haftily  from  the  fouth,  and  checked 
from  proceeding  further  to  the  north,  by  a  beginning  production  of  air  iij 
the  northern  regions,  warm  nnd  moift,  generally  fucceeded  by  north-eaft 
wind.  2.  They  confift  of  air  bent  down  from  the  higher  regions  of  the 
atmofphere;  if  this  air  be  from  the  foufh,  and  brought  haftily,  it  becomes  a 
wind  of  great  velocity,  moving  perhaps  60  miles  in  an  hour,  is  warm  and 
rainy  ;  if  it  confifts  of  northern  air  bent  down,  it  is  pf  lefs  velocity  and 
colder. 

Application  of  t'js  preceding    Theory  to  feme   Extra??*  from  a    "Journal   of  tie 


Dec.  I,  1790,  The  barometer  funk  fuddenly,  and  the  wind,  which  had 
been  fome  days  north-eaft,  with  froft,  changed  to  fouth-eaft  with  an  incelTant 
though  moderate  fall  of  fnpw.  A  part  of  the  northern  air,  which  had. 


NOTE  XXXIII.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  aaj 

paflecl  by  us  I  fuppofe,  now  became  retrograde  before  it  had  acquired  th« 
velocity  of  the  earth's  furface  to  the  fouth  of  us,  and  being  attended  by  fomc 
of  the  fouthern  air  in  its  journey,  the  moiilure  of  the  latter  became  condenfed 
and  frozen  by  its  mixture  with  the  former. 

Dec.  2,  3.  The  wind  changed  to  north- weft  and  thawed  the  fnow.  A 
part  of  the  fouthern  air,  which  had  paffed  by  us  or  over  us,  with  the  retro- 
grade northern  air  above  defcribed,  was  now  in  its  turn  driven  back,  before 
it  had  loft  the  velocity  of  the  furface  of  the  earth  to  the  fouth  of  us,  and, 
confequently,  became  a  north-weft  wind;  and  not  having  loft  the  warmth  it 
brought  from  the  fouth,  produced  a  thaw. 

Dec.  4,  5.  Wind  changed  to  north-eaft,  with  froft  and  a  rifing  barometer, 
The  air  from  the  north  continuing  to  blow,  after  it  had  driven  back  the 
fouthern  air  as  above  defcribed,  became  a  north-eaft  wind,  having  lefs  velo- 
city than  the  furface  of  the  earth  in  this  climate,  and  produced  froft  from 
its  coldnefs. 

Dec.  6,  7.  Wind  now  changed  to  the  fouth-weft,  with  incefiant  rain  and 
a  finking  barometer.  From  unknown  caufes,  I  fuppofe  the  quantity  of 
«iir  to  be  diminifhed  in  the  polar  regions,  and  the  fouthern  air  cooled  by  the 
earth's  furface,  which  was  previoufly  frozen,  depofits  its  moifture  for  a  day 
.or  two ;  afterwards  the  wind  continued  fouth-weft  without  rain,  as  the  fur- 
face  of  the  earth  became  warmer. 

March  18,  1785.  There  has  been  a  long  froft;  a  few  days  ago  th« 
barometer  funk  to  zpT-,  and  the  froft  became  more  fevere.  Becaufe  the  air 
being  expanded,  by  a  part  of  the  preffure  being  taken  off,  became  colder.  This 
day  the  mercury  rofe  to  30,  and  the  froft  ceaied,  the  wind  continuing  as  be- 
fore, between  north  and  eaft.  March  19.  Mercury  above  30,  weather  ftill 
milder,  no  froft,  wind  north-eaft.  March  ao.  The  fame;  for  the  mercury 
rifing,  {hews  that  the  air  becomes  more  compreffed  by  the  weight  above» 
and,  in  confequence,  gives  out  warmth. 

April  4,  5.  Froft,  wind  north-eaft ;  the  wind  changed  in  the  middle 
of  the  day  to  the  north-weft,  without  rain,  and  has  done  fo  for  three  or  four 
days,  becoming  again  north-eaft  at  night.  For  the  fun  now  giving  greater 
degrees  of  heat,  the  air  afcends  a*  the  fun  paffes  the  zenith,  and  is  fupplied 
below  by  the  air  on  the  weftern  fide,  as  well  as  on  the  eaftern  fide  of  the 
zenith,  during  the  hot  part  of  the  day;  whence,  for  a  few  hours,  on  the  ap- 
proach of  the  hot  part  of  the  day,  the  air  acquires  a  wefterly  direction  in 
this  longitude.  If  the  north-weft  wind  had  been  caufed  by  a  retrograde  mo- 
tion of  fome  fouthern  air,  which  had  paffed  over  us,  it  would  have  been  at- 
tended with  rain  or  clouds. 

April  10.  It  rained  all  day  ycfterday,  the  wind  north-weft;  this  morning 
there  was  a  fharp  fr.oft.  The  evaporation  of  the  moifture  (which/ell  yef- 
lerday),  occufioned  by  the  continuance  of  the  wind,  produced  fo  much  cold 
as  to  freeze  the  dew. 

May  11.  Frequent  Ihowers,  with  a  current  of  colder  wind  preceding 
every  fhowcr.  The  finking  of  the  rain  or  cloud  prefled  away  the  air  from 
beneath  it  in  its  defce-nt,  which,  having  been  for  a  time  (haded  from  the  fuif 
by  the  floating  cloud,  became  cooled  in  fome  degree. 

PART  I.  2  G 


226  fcOTANlC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

June  20.  The  barometer  funk,  the  wind  became  fouth-weft,  and  the 
whole  heaven  was  inftantly  covered  with  clouds.  A  part  of  the  incumbent 
atmofphere  having  vaniflied,  as  appeared  by  the  finking  of  the  barometer, 
the  remainder  became  expanded  by  its  elafticity,  and  thence  attracted  fome 
of  the  matter  of  heat  from  the  vapour  intermixed  with  it,  and  thus,  in  a 
few  minutes,  a  total  devaporation  took  place,  as  in  exhaufting  the  receiver  of 
an  air-pump.  See  note  XXV.  At  the  place  where  the  air  is  deflroyed, 
currents  both  from  the  north  and  fouth  flow  in  to  fupply  the  deficiency  (far 
it  has  been  Ihewn  that  there  are  no  other  proper  winds  but  thefe  two),  and 
the  mixture  of  thefe  winds  produces  fo  fudden  condenfation  of  the  moifture, 
both  by  the  coldnefs  of  the  northern  air  and  the  cxpanfion  of  both  of  them, 
that  lightning  is  given  out,  and  an  incipient  tornado  takes  place ;  whence 
thunder  is  faid  frequently  to  approach  againft  the  wind. 

Augnjl  28,  1732.  Barometer  was  at  31,  and  Dec.  30,  in  the  fame  year, 
it  was  at  28  2-tenths.  Medical  ElTays,  Edinburgh,  vol.  IT.  p.  7.  It  appears 
from  thefe  journals  that  the  mercury  at  Edinburgh  varies  fometimes  nearly 
three  inches,  or  one-tenth  of  the  whole  atmofphere.  From  the  journals 
kept  by  the  Royal  Society  at  London,  it  appears  feldom  to  vary  more  than 
two  inches,  or  one-fifteenth  of  the  whole  atmofphere.  The  quantity  of  the 
variation  is  faid  ftill  to  decreafe  nearer  the  line,  and  to  increafe  in  the  more 
northern  latitudes;  which  much  confirms  the  idea  that  there  exifts,  at  cer- 
tain times,  a  great  deflruction  or  production  of  air  within  the  polar  circle. 

July  2,  1732.-  The  wefterly  winds  in  the  journal  in  the  Medical  Efiays, 
vol.  II.  above  referred  to,  are  frequently  marked  with  the  number  three, 
to  fttew  their  greater  velocity,  whereas  the  eafterly  winds  feldom  approach  to 
the  number  two.  The  greater  velocity  of  the  wefterly  winds  than  the 
eafterly  ones  is  well  known,  I  believe,  in  every  climate  of  the  world;  which 
may  be  thus  explained,  from  the  theory  above  delivered.  I.  When  the 
air  is  ftill,  the  higher  parts  of  the  atmofphere  move  quicker  than  thofe  parts 
which  touch  the  earth,  becaufe  they  are  at  a  greater  diftance  from  the  axis 
of  motion.  2.  The  part  of  the  atmofphere  where  the  north  or  fouth  wind 
comes  front,  is  higher  than  the  part  of  it  where  it  comes  to;  hence  the  more 
elevated  parts  of  the  atmofphere  continue  to  defcend  towards  the  earth  as 
cither  of  thofe  winds  approach.  3.  When  fouthern  air  is  brought  to  us  it 
poffeffes  a  wefterly  direction  alfo,  owing  to  the  velocity  it  has  previously 
acquired  from  the  earth's  furface ;  and  if  it  cbnfifts  of  air  from  the  higher 
parts  of  the  atmofphere  defcending  nearer  the  earth,  this  wefterly  velocity 
becomes  increafed.  But  when  northern  air  is  brought  to  us,  it  polTeffes  an 
apparent  eufterly  direction  alfo,  owing  to  the  velocity  which  it  has  pre- 
vioufly  acquired  from  the  earth's  furface  being  lefs  than  that  of  the  earth's 
furface  in  this  latitude:  now,  if  the  north-eaft  wind  corififts  of  air  defcend- 
ing from  higher  parts  of  the  atmofphere,  this  deficiency  of  velocity  will  "be 
lefs,  in  confequence  of  the  fame  caufe,  viz.  the  higher  parts  of  the  atmof- 
phere defcending,  as  the  wind  approaches,  increafes  the  real  velocity  of  the 
weitern  winds,  and  decreafes  the  apparent  velocity  of  the  eaftern  ones. 

Oftober  22.  Wind  changed  from  fouth-eaft  to  fouth-weft.  There  is  a 
popular  prognoftication  that  if  the  wind  changes  from  the  north  towards 


NOTE  XXXIV.      ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  227 

the  fouth,  paffing  through  the  eaft,  it  is  more  likely  to  continue  in  the  fouth, 
than  if  it  pafies  through  the  weft,  which  may  be  thus  accounted  for.  If 
the  north-eaft  wind  changes  to  a  north- weft  wind,  it  fhews  either  that  a 
part  of  the  northern  air  defcends  upon  us  in  a  fpiral  eddy,  or  that  a  fuperior 
current  of  fouthern  air  is  driven  hack;  but  if  a  north-eaft  wind  be  changed 
into  a  fouth-eaft  wind,  it  fhews  that  the  northern  air  is  become  retrograde, 
and  that  in  a  day  or  two,  as  foon  as  that  part  of  it  has  patted  which  has 
not  gained  the  velocity  of  the  earth's  furface  in  this  latitude,  it  will  become 
a  fouth  wind  for  a  few  hours,  and  then  a  fouth-weft  wind. 

The  writer  of  this  imperfecl  {ketch  of  anemology,  wiflies  it  may  incite 
fome  perfon  of  greater  leifure  and  ability  to  attend  to  this  fubjed:,  and  by 
comparing  the  various  meteorological  journals  and  obfervations  already  pub- 
lifhed,  to  conftrucT:  a  more  accurate  and  methodical  treatife  on  this  inter  eft- 
ing  branch  of  philofophy. 


NOTE  XXXIV.— VEGETABLE  PERSPIRATION. 

£nd  ived tie  enamoured  Qxygene  to  Light-.  CANTO-,  IV.  1.  34. 

WHEN  points  or  hairs  are  put  into  fpring-water,  as  in  the  experiments 
of  Sir  B.  Thompfon,  (Phil.  Tranf.  LXXVII.)  and  expofed  to  the  light  of 
the  fun,  much  air,  which  loofely  adhered  to  the  water,  rifes  in  bubbles,  as 
explained  in  the  note  on  Fucus,  vol.  II.  A  ftill  greater  quantity  of  air,  and 
of  a  purer  -kind,  is  emitted  by  Dr.  Prieilley's  green  matter,  and  by  vegeta- 
ble leaves  growing  in  water  in  funfhine,  according  to  Mr.  Ingenhouz's  ex- 
periments; both  which  I  fiifpe^l  to  be  owing  to  a  decwnpofition  of  the  wa-» 
ter  perfpired  by  the  plant ;  for  the  edge  of  a  capillary  tube  of  great  tenuity 
may  be  confidered  as  a  circle  of  points,  and  as  the  oxygene,  or  principle  of 
vital  air,  may  be  expanded  into  a  gas  by  the  fun's  light,,  the  hydrogene,  or 
inflammable  air,  may  be  detained  in  the  pores  of  the  vegetable. 

Hence  plants  growing  in  the  fhade  are  white,  and  become  green  by  be- 
ing expofed  to  the  fun's  light;  for  their  natural  colour  being  blue,  the  ad- 
dition of  hydrogene  adds  yellow  to  this  blue,  and  tans  them  green.  I  fup- 
pofe  a  fimilar  circuinftance  takes  place  in  animal  bodies;  their  perfpirablc 
matter,  as  it  efcapes  in  the  funfhine,  becomes  decompofed  by  the  edges  of 
their  pores,  as  in  vegetables,  though  in  lefs  quantity,  as  their  perfpiration 
is  lefs,  and  by  their  hydrogene  being  retained  the  fkin  becomes  tanned  yel- 
low. In  proof  of  this  it  muft  be  obferved,  that  both  vegetable  and  animal 
fub fiances  become  bleached  white  by  the  fun-beams  when  they  are  dead, 
as  cabbage-ftalks,  bones,  ivory,  tallow,  bees-wax,  linen  and  cotton  cloth; 
and  hence,  I  fuppofe,  the  copper-coloured  natives  of  funny  countries  might 
become  etiolated,  or  blanched,  by  being  kept  from  their  infancy  in  the  dark, 
or  removed,  for  a  few  generations,  to  more  northerly  climates. 

It  is  probable  that  on  a  funny  morning  much  pure  air  becomes  feparated 
from  the  dew,  by  means  of  the  points  of  vegetables,  on  which  it  adheres, 


±2$  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  I>A*T  L 

and  much  inflammable  air  imbibed  by  the  vegetable,  or  combined  v/ith  it; 
and  by  the  fun's  light  thus  decompofing  water,  the  effects  of  it  in  bleach- 
ing linen  feems  to  depend  (as  defcribed  in  note  X.):  the  water  is  decom- 
pofed  by  the  light  at  the  ends  or  points  of  the  cotton  or  thread,  and  the 
vital  air  unites  with  the  phlogiilic  or  colouring  matters  of  the  cloth,  and 
produces  a  netv  acid,  which  is  either  itfelf  colourlefs,  or  waihes  out;  at  the 
iame  time  the  inflammable  part  of  the  water  efcapes.  Hence  there  feem* 
a  reafon  why  cotton  bleaches  fo  much  fooner  than  linen,  viz.  becaufe  its  fi- 
bres are  three  or  four  tunes  fhorter,  and  therefore  protrude  fo  many  more 
points,  which  feem  to  facilitate  the  liberation  of  the  vital  air  from  the  in- 
flammable part  of  the  water. 

Bees-wax  becomes  bleached  by  expofure  to  the  fun  and  dews,  in  a  fimi- 
lar  manner  as  metals  become  calcined  or  rufly,  viz.  by  the  water  on  their 
furface  being  decomposed;  and  hence  the  inflammable  material,  which 
caufed  the  colour,  becomes  united  with  vital  air,  forming  a  new  acid,  and 
is  wafhed  away. 

Oil,  clofe  flopped  in  a  phial  not  full,  and  expofed  long  to  the  fun's  light , 
becomes  bleached,  as  I  fuppofe,  by  the  decompofition  of  the  water  it  con- 
tains; the  inflammable  air  rifing  above  the  furface,  and  the  vital  air  unit- 
ing with  the  colouring  matter  of  the  oil.  For  it  is  remarkable,  that  by 
Shutting  up  a  phial  of  bleached  oil  in  a  dark  drawer,  it,  in  a  little  time, 
becomes  coloured  again. 

The  following  experiment  {hews  the  power  of  light  in  feparating  vital 
air  from  another  bafis,  viz.  from  azote.  Mr.  Scheele  inverted  a  glafs  vef- 
fel,  filled  with  colourlefs  nitrous  acid,  into  another  glafs,  containing  the 
fame  acid,  and,  on  expofmg  them  to  the  fun's  light,  the  inverted  glafs  be- 
came partly  filled  with  pure  air,  and  the  acid,  at  the  fame  time,  became  co- 
loured. Scheele,  in  Crcll's  Annal.  1786.  But  if  the  veflel  of  colourlefs 
nitrous  acid  be  quite  full,  and  flopped,  fo  that  no  fpace  is  left  for  the  air 
produced  to  expand  itfelf  into,  no  change  of  colour  takes  place.  Pricftley's 
Exp.  VI.  p.  344.  See  Keir's  very  excellent  Chemical  Dictionary,  p.  99. 
new  edition. 

A  fun-flowcf ,  three  feet  and  a  half  high,  according  to  the  experiment  of 
Dr.  Hales,  perfpired  two  pints  in  one  day  (Vegetable  Statics),  which  is 
many  times  as  much,  in  proportion  to  its  furface,  as  is  perfpired  from  the 
furface  and  lungs  cf  animal  bodies;  it  follows,  that  the  vital  air  liberated 
from  the  furfaces  of  plants  by  the  funfhine,  muft  much  exceed  the  quan- 
tity of  it  abforbed  by  their  refpiration,  and  that  hence  they  improve  the  air 
in  which  they  live  during  the  light  part  of  the  day ;  and  thus  blanched  ve- 
getables will  fooner  become  tanned  into  green  by  the  fun's  light,  than  etiolated 
animal  bodies  will  become  tanned  yellow  by  the  fame  means. 

It  is  hence  evident,  that  the  curious  difcovery  of  Dr.  Priefllcy,  that  his 
green  vegetable  matter,  and  other  aquatic  plants,  gave  out  vital  air 
iv hen  the  fun  flione  upon  them,  and  the  leaves  of  other  plants  did  the  fame 
when  hnmerfed  in  water,  as  obfcrved  by  Mr.  Ingenhouz,  refer  to  the  per- 
fpiration  of  vegetables,  not  to  their  refpiration.  Becaufe  Dr.  Prieflley  ob- 
fcrved the  pure  air  to  come  from  both  fides  of  the  leaves,  and  even  from 


Note  XXXV.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  219 

the  flalks  of  a  water-flag,  whereas  one  fide  of  the  leaf  only  fervcs  the  officfc 
of  lungs,  and  certainly  not  the  flalks.  Exper.  on  Air,  vol.  III.  And  thus, 
in  refped  to  the  circumftance  in  which  plants  and  animals  feemed  the  far- 
theft  removed  from  each  other,  I  mean  in  their  fuppofed  mode  of  refpira* 
tion,  by  which  one  was  believed  to  purify  the  air  whkh  the  other  had  in- 
jured, they  feem  to  differ  only  in  degree,  and  the  analogy  between  them 
remains  unbroken. 

Plants  are  faid,  by  many  writers,  to  grow  much  f after  in  the  night  than 
in  the  day,  as  is  particularly  obfervable  in  feedlings,  at  their  rifing  out  of 
the  ground.  This  probably  is  a  confequence  of  their  fleep  rather  than  of  the 
abfence  of  light ;  and  in  this,  I  fuppofe,  they  alfo  refemble  animal  bodies. 


NOTE  XXXV.— VEGETABLE  PLACENTATION. 

While  in  bright  veins  the  filvery  Sap  afcends.  CANTO  IV.  1.  43!. 

AS  buds  are  the  viviparous  offspring  of  vegetables^  it  becomes  neceffary 
that  they  fliould  be  furnifhed  with  placental  veffels  for  their  nourifhment, 
till  they  acquire  lungs,  or  leaves,  for  the  purpofe  of  elaborating  the  com- 
mon juices  of  the  earth  into  nutriment.  Thefe  veffels  exift  in  bulbs  and  in 
feeds,  and  fupply  the  young  plant  with  a  fvveet  juice,  till  it  acquires  leaves, 
as  is  feen  in  converting  barley  into  malt,  and  appears  from  the  fweet  tafte 
of  onions  and  potatoes,  when  they  begin  to  grow. 

The  placental  veflels  belonging  to  the  buds  of  trees  are  placed  about 
the  roots  of  moil,  as  the  vine ;  fo  many  roots  are  furnifhed  with  fweet  of 
mealy  matter,  as  fern-root,  bryony,  carrot,  turnip,  potatoe,  or  in  the  albur- 
num, or  fap-wood,  as  in  thofe  trees  which  produce  manna,  which  is  depo- 
fited  about  the  month  of  Auguft,  or  in  the  joints  of  fugar-cane,  and  grafles; 
early  in  the  fpring  the  abforbent  mouths  of  thefe  veffels  drink  up  moifturc 
from  the  earth,  with  a  faccharine  matter  lodged  for  that  purpofe  during 
the  preceding  autumn,  and  pufh  this  nutritive  fluid  up  the  veffels  of  the  al- 
burnum, to  every  individual  bud,  as  is  evinced  by  the  experiments  of  Dr. 
Hales,  and  of  Mr.  Walker,  in  the  Edinburgh  Philofophical  Tranf.  The  for- 
mer obferved,  that  the  fap  from  the  ftump  of  a  vine,  which  he  had  cut  off  in 
the  beginning  of  April,  arofe  twenty-one  feet  high,  in  tubes  affixed  to  it  for 
that  purpofe ;  but  in  a  few  Weeks  it  ceafed  to  bleed  at  all,  and  Dr.  Walker 
marked  the  progrefs  of  the  afcending  fap,  and  found  likewife  that  as  foort 
as  the  leaves  became  expanded,  the  fap  ceafed  to  rife:  the  afcending  juice 
of  fome  trees  is  fo  copious  and  fo  fweet  during  the  fap-feafon,  that  it  is  ufed 
to  make  wine,  as  the  birch,  betula,  and  fycamore,  acer  pfcudo-platanus,  and 
particularly  the  palm,  and  maple  acer. 

During  this  afcent  of  the  fap-juice,  each  individual  leaf-bud  expands  its 
new  leaves,  and  moots  down  new  roots,  covering,  by  their  intermixture, 
the  old  bark  with  a  new  one;  and  as  foon  as  thefe  new  roots  (or  bark)  are 
capable  of  abforbing  fufficient  juices  from  the  earth  for  the  fupport  of  each 


BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

bud,  and  the  new  leaves  are  capable  of  performing  their  office  of  expofing 
thefe  juices  to  the  influence  of  the  air,  the  placental  velTels  ceafe  to  act,  co- 
alefce,  and  are  transformed  from  fap-wood,  or  alburnum,  into  inert  wood, 
ferving  only  for  the  fupport  of  the  new  tree,  which  grows  over  them. 

Thus  from  the  pith  of  the  new  bud  of  the  horfe-chefnut  five  veflels  pafs 
out  through  the  circle  of  the  placental  vefiels  above  defcribed,  and  carry 
with  them  a  minuter  circle  of  thofe  veflels;  thefe  five  bundles  of  veflels 
unite  after  their  exit,  and  form  the  foot-ftalk  or  petiole  of  the  new  five-fin- 
gered leaf,  to  be  fpoken  of  hereafter.  This  ftructure  is  well  feen  by  cutting 
off  a  leaf  of  the  horfe-chefnut  (jEfculus  Hippocaftanum)  in  September,  be- 
fore it  falls,  as  the  buds  of  this  tree  are  fo  large  that  the  flower  may  be 
feen  in  them  with  the  naked  eye. 

After  a  time,  perhaps  about  midfummer,  another  bundle  of  veflels  paf- 
fes  from  the  pith  through  the  alburnum,  or  fap-veflels,  in  the  bofom  of  each 
kaf,  and  unites,  by  the  new  bark,  with  the  leaf,  which  becomes  either  a 
flower-bud  or  leaf-bud,  to  be  expanded  in  the  enfuing  fpring,  for  which 
purpofe  an  apparatus  of  placental  veffels  is  produced,  with  proper  nutri- 
ment, during  the  progrefs  of  the  fummer  and  autumn;  and  thus  the  vege- 
table becomes  annually  increafed,  ten  thoufand  buds  often  exifting  on  one 
tree,  according  to  the  eftimate  of  Linnxus.  Phil.  Eot. 

The  vafcular  connection  of  vegetable  buds  with  the  leaves  in  whofe  ho- 
foms  they  are  formed,  is  confirmed  by  the  following  experiment,  (Oct.  20, 
1781.)  On  the  extremity  of  a  young  bud  of  the  Mimofa  (fenfitive  plant) 
a  fmall  drop  of  acid  of  vitriol  was  put,  by  means  of  a  pen,  and,  after  a  few 
feconds,  the  leaf  in  whofe  axilla  it  dwelt  clofed,  and  opened  no  more, 
though  the  drop  of  vitriolic  acid  was  fo  fmall  as  apparently  only  to  injure 
the  fummit  of  the  bud.  Does  not  this  feem  to  fhew  that  the  leaf  and  it» 
bud  have  connecting  veflels,  though  they  arife  at  different  times,  and  from 
different  parts  of  the  medulla,  or  pith  ?  And,  as  it  exifts  previoufly  to  it, 
that  the  leaf  is  the  parent  of  the  bud? 

This  placentation  of  vegetable  buds  is  clearly  evinced  from  the  fweetnefs 
cf  the  rifing  fap,  and  from  its  ceafing  to  rife  as  foon  as  the  leaves  are  ex- 
panded,, and  thus  completes  the  analogy  between  buds  and  bulbs.  Nor 
need  we  wonder  at  the  length  of  the  Umbilical  cords  of  buds,  fince  that 
muft  correfpond  with  their  fituation  on  the  tree,  in  the  fame  manner  as 
their  lymphatics  and  arteries  are  proportionally  elongated. 

It  does  not  appear  probable  that  any  umbilical  artery  attends  thefe  pla- 
cental abforbents,  fince,  as  there  feems  to  be  no  fyilem  of  veins  in  vegeta- 
bles to  bring  back  the  blood  from  the  extremities  of  their  arteries  (except 
their  pulmonary  veins),  there  could  not  be  any  vegetable  fluids  to  be  re- 
turned to  their  placenta,  which,  in  vegetables,  feems  to  be  fimply  an  organ 
for  nutrition,  \vhereas  the  placenta  of  the  animal  foetus  feems  likewife  t* 
ferve  as  a  refpiratory  organ,  like  the  gilk  of  fifhes. 


NOTE  XXXVI.          ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  23:, 

NOTE  XXXVL— VEGETABLE  CIRCULATION. 

And  refluent  blood  in  milky  eddies  bends.  CANTO  IV.  1.  43 3. 

THE  individuality  of  vegetable  buds  was  fpoken  of  before,  and  is  con- 
firmed by  the  method  of  railing  all  kinds  of  trees,  by  Mr.  Barnes.  (Method 
of  propagating  Fruit  Trees.  1759.  Lond.  Baldwin.)  He  cut  a  branch 
into  as  many  pieces  as  there  were  buds  or  leaves  upon  it,  and  wiping  the  two 
wounded  ends  dry,  he  quickly  applied  to  each  a  cement,  previoufly  warmed 
a  little,  which  confided  principally  of  pitch,  and  planted  them  in  the  earth. 
The  ufe  of  this  cement  I  fuppofe  to  conlift  in  its  preventing  the  bud  from 
bleeding  to  death,  though  the  author  afcribes  it  to  its  antifeptic  quality. 

Thefe  buds  of  plants,  which  are  thus  each  an  individual  vegetable,  ia 
many  circumftances  referable  individual  animals ;  but  as  animal  bodies  are 
detached  from  the  earth,  and  move  from  place  to  place  in  fearch  of  food, 
and  take  that  food  at  confiderable  intervals  of  time,  and  prepare  it  for  their 
nourilhment  within  their  own  bodies  after  it  is  taken,  it  is  evident  they  muft 
require  many  organs  and  powers  which  are  not  necefiary  to  a  flationary  bud. 
As  vegetables  are  immoveably  fixed  to  the  foil  from  whence  they  draw  their 
nourifhment  ready  prepared,  and  this  uniformly,  not  at  returning  intervals, 
it  follows,  that  in  examining  their  anatome,  we  are  not  to  look  for  mufcles 
of  locomotion,  as  arms  and  legs;  nor  for  organs  to  receive  and  prepare  their 
nouiiftiment,  as  a  flomach  and  bowels;  nor  for  a  refervoir  for  it  after  it  is 
prepared,  as  a  general  fyftem  of  veins,  whieh,  in  locomotive  animals,  contains 
and  returns  the  fuperfluous  blood  which  is  left  after  the  various  organs 
of  fecretion  have  been  fupplied,  by  which  contrivance  they  arc  enabled  to 
live  a  long  time  without  new  fupplies  of  food. 

The  parts  which  we  may  expeil  to  find  in  the  anatome  of  vegetables,  cor- 
refpondent  to  thofe  in  the  animal  economy,  are,  I.  A  fyftem  of  abforbent 
veflels,  to  imbibe  the  moifture  of  the  earth  fimilar  to  the  Ia6teal  veflels,  as  in 
the  roots  of  plants;  and  another  fyftem  of  abforbents,  fimilar  to  the  lym- 
phatics of  animal  bodies,  opening  its  mouths  on  the  internal  cells  and  ex- 
ternal furfaces  of  vegetables;  and  a  third  fyftem  of  abforbent  veflels,  cor- 
refpondent  v/ith  thofe  of  the  placentation  of  the  animal  foetus.  2.  A  pulmo- 
nary fyftem,  correfpondent  to  the  lungs  or  gills  of  quadrupeds  and  fifh,  by 
which  the  fluid  abforbed  by  the  lacleals  and  lymphatics  may  be  expofed  to 
the  influence  of  the  aif :  this  is  done  by  the  green  leaves  of  plants,  thofe  in 
the  air  refembling  lungs,  and  thofe  in  the  water  refembling  gills;  and  by  the 
petals  of  flowers.  3.  Arterial  fyftems  to  convey  the  fluid  thus  elaborated  to 
the  various  glands  of  the  vegetable,  for  the  purpofes  of  its  growth,  nutrition, 
and  various  fecretions.  4.  The  various  glands  which  feparate  from  the  ve- 
getable blood  the  honey,  wax,  gum,  refin,  ftarch,  fugar,  eflential  oil,  &c. 
5.  The  organs  adapted  for  their  propagation  or  reproduction.  6.  Mufcles 
to  perform  fcveral  motions  of  their  parts. 

I.  The  exiftence  of  that  branch  of  the  abforbent  Veffels  of  vegetable* 
which  refonbles  the  li&eak  of  animal  bodies,  and  imbibes  their  nutriment 


232  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

from  the  moift  earth,  is  evinced  by  their  growth  fo  long  as  moiilure  is  ap- 
plied to  their  roots,  and  their  quickly  withering  when  it  is  withdrawn, 

Befides  thefe  abforbents  in  the  roots  of  plants  there  are  others,  which  open 
their  mouths  on  the  external  furfaces  of  the  bark  and  leaves,  and  on  the  in- 
ternal furfaces  of  all  the  cells,  and  between  the  bark  and  the  alburnum,  or 
fup-wood;  the  exiftence  of  thefe  is  fhewn,  becaufe  a  leaf  plucked  off,  and 
laid  with  its  under  fide  on  water,  will  not  wither  I'o  foon  as  if  left  in  the  dry 
air, — the  fame  if  the  bark  alone  of  a  branch  which  is  feparated  from  a  tree 
be  kept  moifl  with  water,— and,  laftly,  by  moiftening  the  alburnum  or  fap- 
wood  alone  of  a  branch  detached  from  a  tree,  it  will  not  fo  foon  wither  as  it 
left  in  the  dry  air.  By  the  following  experiment  thefe  veffels  were  agree- 
ably vilible  by  a  common  magnifying  glafs:  I  placed,  in  the  fummer  of  1781, 
the  foot-ilalks  of  fome  large  fig-leaves  about  an  inch  deep  in  a  decoction  of 
madder  (rubia  tinctorum)  and  others  in  a  decoction  of  logwood  (haematoxy- 
lum  campechenfe),  along  with  fome  fprigs  cut  off  from  a  plant  of  picris;  thefe 
plants  were  chofen  becaufe  their  blood  is  white;  after  fome  hours,  and  on  the 
next  day,  on  taking  out  either  of  thefe,  and  cutting  off  from  its  bottom 
about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  of  the  ftalk,  an  internal  circle  of  red  points  ap- 
peared, which  were  the  ends  of  abforbent  veffel?,  coloured  red  with  the  de- 
coction, while  an  external  ring  of  arteries  was  feen  to  bleed  out  haflily  a 
milky  juice,  and,  at  once,  evinced  both  the  abforbent  and  arterial  fyftem. 
Thcfe  abforbent  veffels  have  been  called  by  Grew,  and  Malphigi,  and  fome 
other  philofophers,  bronchi,  and  erroneoufly  fuppofed  to  be  air-veffels.  It  is 
probable  that  thefe  veffels,  when  cut  through,  may  effufe  their  fluids,  and 
receive  air,  their  fides  being  too  ftiff  to  collapie ;  fmce  dry  wood  emits  air- 
bubbles  in  the  exhaufted  receiver  in  the  fame  manner  as  moift  wood. 

The  ftructure  of  thefe  vegetable  abforbents  confiils  of  a  fpiral  line,  and 
not  of  a  veffel  interrupted  with  valves  like  the  animal  lymphatics,  fmce  oa 
breaking  almoft  any  tender  leaf,  and  drawing  out  fome  of  the  fibres,  which 
adhere  longeft,  this  fpiral  ftructure  becomes  vifible,  even  to  the  naked  eye, 
and  diftinctly  fo  by  the  ufe  of  a  common  lens.  See  Grew,  plate  51. 

In  fuch  a  ftructure  it  is  eafy  to  conceive  how  a  vermicular  or  periftaltic 
motion  of  the  veffel,  beginning  at  the  loweft  part  of  it,  each  fpiral  ring 
fucceffively  contracting  itfelf  till  it  fills  up  the  tube,  mult  forcibly  pufh  for- 
wards its  contents,  as  from  the  roots  of  vines  in  the  bleeding  feafon;  and  if 
this  vermicular  motion  fhould  begin  at  the  upper  end  of  the  veffel,  it  is  as 
eafy  to  fee  how  it  muft  carry  its  contained  fluid  in  a  contrary  direction. 
The  retrograde  motion  of  the  vegetable  abforbent  veffels  is  fhewn  by  cut- 
ting a  forked  branch  from  a  tree,  and  immerfing  a  part  of  one  of  the  forks 
in  water,  which  will,  for  many  days,  prevent  the  other  from  withering; 
or,  it  is  fhewn  by  planting  a  willow  branch  with  the  wrong  end  upwards. 
This  ftructure,  in  fome  degree,  obtains  in  the  cefophagus,  or  throat  of  cows, 
\vho,  by  iimilar  means,  convey  their  food  firft  downwards,  and  afterward 
upwards,  by  a  retrograde  motion  of  the  annular  mufcles,  or  cartilages, 
for  the  purpofe  of  a  fecond  maftication  of  it. 

II.  The  fluids  thus  drank  up  by  the  vegetable  abforbent  veffels  from  the 
earth,  or  from  the  atmofphere,  or  from  their  own  cells  and  interftices,  afc 


NoTEXXXVL        ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  233 

carried  to  the  foot-ftalk  of  every  leaf,  where  the  abforbents  belonging  to  each 
leaf  unite  into  branches,  forming  fo  many  pulmonary  arteriei,  and  are  thenco 
difperfed  to  the  extremities  of  the  leaf,  as  may  be  feen  in  cutting  away,  flicc 
after  flice,  the  foot-ftalk  of  a  horfe-chefnut  in  September,  before  the  leaf  falls. 
There  is  then  a  complete  circulation  in  the  leaf;  a  pulmonary  vein  receiving 
the  blood  from  the  extremities  of  each  artery,  on  the  upper  fide  of  the  leaf, 
and  joining  again  in  the  foot-ftalk  of  the  leaf,  thefe  veins  produce  fo  many 
arteries,  or  aortas,  which  difperfe  the  new  blood  over  the  new  bark,  elongating 
its  vefiels,  or  producing  its  fecretions;  but  as  a  refervoir  of  blood  could  not  be 
wanted  by  a  vegetable  bud  which  takes  in  its  nutriment  at  all  times,  I  ima- 
gine there  is  no  venous  fyftem,  no  veins,  properly  fo  called,  which  receive 
the  blood  which  was  to  fpare,  and  return  it  into  the  pulmonary  or  arterial 
fyftem. 

The  want  of  a  fyftem  of  veins  was  countenanced  by  the  following  experi- 
ment: I  cut  off  feveral  ftems  of  tall  fpurge  (Euphorbia  heliofcopia)  in  au- 
tumn, about  the  centre  of  the  plant,  and  obferved  tenfold  the  quantity  of 
milky  juice  ooze  from  the  upper  than  from  the  lower  extremity,  which  could 
hardly  have  happened  if  there  had  been  a  venous  fyftem  of  veflels  to  re-» 
turn  the  blood  from  the  roots  to  the  leaves. 

Thus  the  vegetable  circulation,  complete  in  the  lungs,  but,  probably,  in 
the  other  part  of  the  fyftem  deficient,  in  refpedt  to  a  fyftem  of  returning 
veins,  is  carried  forwards  without,  a  heart,  like  the  circulation  through  the 
livers  of  animals,  where  the  blood  brought  from  the  inteftines  and  mefen- 
tery  by  one  vein,  is  difperfed  through  the  liver  by  the  vena  portarum, 
which  affumes  the  office  of  an  artery.  See  note  XXXVII. 

At  the  fame  time  fo  minute  are  the  veflels  in  the  intertexture  of  the  barks 
of  plants,  which  belong  to  each  individual  bud,  that  a  general  circulation 
may  poffibly  exift,  though  we  have  not  yet  been  able  to  difcover  the  venous 
part  of  it. 

There  is,  however,  another  part  of  the  circulation  of  vegetable  juices  vU 
Cble  to  the  naked  eye,  and  that  is  in  the  corol  or  petals  of  flowers,  in  which 
a  part  of  the  blood  of  the  plant  is  expofed  to  the  influence  of  the  air  and 
light  in  the  fame  manner  as  in  the  foliage,  as  will  be  mentioned  more  at 
large  in  notes  XXXVII  and  XXXIX. 

Thefe  circulations  of  their  refpedive  fluids  feem  to  be  carried  on  in  the 
veflels  of  plants  precifely  as  in  animal  bodies,  by  their  irritability  to  the 
ftimulus  of  their  adapted  fluids,  and  not  by  any  mechanical  or  chemical  at- 
traction, for  their  abforbent  veflels  propel  the  juice  upwards,  which  they 
drink  up  from  the  earth,  with  great  violence ;  I  fuppofe  with  much  greater 
than  is  exerted  by  the  lacleals  of  animals,  probably  owing  to  the  greater 
minutenefs  of  thefe  veflels  in  vegetables,  and  the  greater  rigidity  of  their 
coats.  Dr.  Hales,  in  the  fpring  feafon,  cut  off  a  vine  near  the  ground,  and, 
by  fixing  tubes  on  the  remaining  ftump  of  it,  found  the  fap  to  rife  twentyr 
one  feet  in  the  tube,  by  the  propulfive  power  of  thefe  abforbtnts  of  the  roots 
of  it.  Veget.  Stat.  p.  loa.  Such  a  power  cannot  be  produced  by  capil- 
lary attraction,  as  that  could  only  raife  a  fluid  nearly  to  the  upper  edge  of 
the  attracting  cylinder,  but  not  enable  it  to  flow  over  that  edge,  and  much 

PART  1.  2  H 


234  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

Icfs  to  rife  ai  feet  above  it.  What  then  can  this  power  be  owing  to? 
Doubtlefs  to  the  living  activity  of  the  abforbent  veffels,  and  to  their  increaf- 
ed  vivacity,  from  the  influence  of  the  Avarmth  of  the  fpring  fucceeding  the 
winter's  cold,  and  their  thence  greater  fufceptibility  to  irritation  from  the 
juices  which  they  abforb,  refembling,  in  all  circumftances,  the  adlion  of  the 
living  vcflels  of  animals. 


NOTE  XXXVIL— VEGETABLE  RESPIRATION. 

While  y  fpread  'in  air,  the  leaves  rcf firing  play.          CANTO  IV.  1.  433. 

I.  THERE  have  been  various  opinions  concerning  the  ufe  of  the  leaves 
of  plants  in  the  vegetable  economy.  Sonic  have  contended  that  they  arc 
perfpiratory  organs ;  this  does  not  feem  probable  from  an  experiment  of  Dr. 
Hales.  Veget.  Stat.  p.  30.  He  found,  by  cutting  off  branches  of  trees  with 
apples  on  them,  and  taking  off  the  leaves,  that  an  apple  exhaled  about  as 
much  as  two  leaves,  the  furfaces  of  which  were  nearly  equal  to  the  apple; 
whence  it  would  appear  that  apples  have  as  good  a  claim  to  be  termed  per- 
fpiratory organs  as  leaves.  Others  have  believed  them  excretory  organs  of 
excrementitious  juices ;  but  as  the  vapour  exhaled  from  vegetables  has  no 
tafte,  this  idea  is  no  more  probable  than  the  other;  add  to  this,  that  in 
moift  weather  they  do  not  appear  to  perfpire  or  exhale  at  all. 

The  internal  furface  of  the  lungs  or  ah>veiTels  in  men,  is  faid  to  be  equal 
to  the  external  furface  of  the  whole  body,  or  about  fifteen  fquare  feet; 
on  this  furface  the  blood  is  expofed  to  the  influence  of  the  refpired  air, 
through  the  medium,  however,  of  a  thin  pellicle ;  by  this  expofure  to  the 
air  it  has  its  colour  changed  front  deep  red  to  bright  fcarlet,  and  acquires 
fomething  fo  neceflary  to  the  exiftence  of  life,  that  we  can  live  fcarcely  a 
minute  without  this  Wonderful  procefs. 

The  analogy  between  the  leaves  of  plants  and  the  lungs  or  gills  of  ani- 
mals, feems  to  embrace  fo  many  circumftances,  that  we  can  fcarcely  with- 
hold our  aiTent  to  their  performing  limilar  offices. 

1.  The  great  furface  of  the  leaves,  compared  to  that  of  the  trunk  and 
branches  of  trees,  is  fuch,  that  it  would  feem  to  be  an  organ  well  adapted 
for  the  purpofe  of  expofing  the  vegetable  juices  to  the  influence  of  the  air; 
this,  however,  we  fhall  fee  afterwards,    is  probably  performed  only  by 
their  upper  furfaces;  yet  even  in  this  cafe  the  furface  of  the  leaves  in  ge- 
neral bears  a  greater  proportion  to  the  furface  of  the  tree,  than  the  lungs 
of  animals  to  their  external  furfaces. 

2.  In  the  lungs  of  animals,  the  blood,  after  having  been  expofed  to  the  air  in 
the  extremities  of  the  pulmonary  artery,  is  changed  in  colour  from  deep  red 
to  bright  fcarlet,  and  certainly  in  fome  of  its  eflential  properties;  it  is  then 
collected  by  the  pulmonary  vein,  and  returned  to  the  heart.     To  fhew  a  fi- 
milarity  of  circumftances  in  the  leaves  of  plants,  the  following  experiment 
was  made,  June  24,  1781.     A  Halk,  with  leaves  and  feed-veffels,  of  large 


NOTE  XXXVJI.      ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  23$ 

fpurge  (Euphorbia  heliofcopia)  had  been  feveral  days  placed  in  a  deco&ioft 
of  madder  (Rubia  tin&orum),  fo  that  the  lower  part  of  the  ftem,  and  two 
of  the  undermoft  leaves,  were  immerfed  in  it.  After  having  walhed  the 
immerfed  leaves  in  clear  water,  I  could  readily  difcern  the  colour  of  the 
madder  pafling  along  the  middle  rib  of  each  leaf.  This  red  artery  was  beau- 
tifully vifible  both  on  the  under  and  upper  furface  of  the  leaf;  but  on  the 
upper  fide  many  red  branches  were  feen  going  from  it  to  the  extremities  of 
the  leaf,  which,  on  the  other  fide,  were  not  vifible,  except  by  looking  through 
it  againft  the  light.  On  this  under  fide  a  fyftem  of  branching  veffels,  car- 
rying a  pale  milky  fluid,  were  feen  coming  from  the  extremities  of  the  leaf, 
and  covering  the  whole  under  fide  of  it,  and  joining  into  two  large  veins, 
one  on  each  fide  of  the  red  artery,  in  the  middle  rib  of  the  leaf,  and  along 
with  it  defcending  to  the  foot-ftalk  or  petiole.  On  flitting  one  of  thefe 
leaves  with  fciffars,  and  having  a  common  magnifying  lens  ready,  the  milky 
blood  was  feen  oozing  out  of  the  returning  veins  on  each  fide  of  the  red  ar- 
tery, in  the  middle  rib,  but  none  of  the  red  fluid  from  the  artery. 

All  thefe  appearances  were  more  eafily  feen  in  a  leaf  of  picris  treated  in 
the  fame  manner;  for  in  this  milky  plant  the  ftems  and  middle  rib  of  the 
leaves  are  fometimes  naturally  coloured  reddifh,  and  hence  the  colour  of 
the  madder  feemed  to  pafs. further  into  the  ramifications  of  their  leaf-arte- 
ries, and  was  there  beautifully  vifible,  with  the  returning  branches  of  milky 
veins  on  each  fide. 

3.  From  thefe  experiments,  the  upper  furface  of  the  leaf  appeared  to  be 
the  immediate  organ  of  refpiration,  becaufe  the  coloured  fluid  was  carried 
to  the  extremities  of  the  leaf  by  veflels  moft  confpicuous  on  the  upper  fur- 
face,  and  there  changed  into  a  milky  fluid,  which  ia  the  blood  of  the  plant, 
and  then  returned,  by  concomitant  veins,  on  the  under  furface,  which  were 
feen  to  ooze  when  divided  with  fciflars,  and  which,  in  picris  particularly, 
render  the  under  furface  of  the  leaves  greatly  whiter  than  the  upper  one. 

4.  As  the  upper  furface  of  leaves  conftitutes  the  organ  of  refpiration,  on 
which  the  fap  is  expofed,  in  the  terminations  of  arteries,  beneath  a  thin 
pellicle,  to  the   adlion  of  the  atmofphere,  thefe  furfaces,  in  many  plants, 
ftrongly  repel  moifture,  as  cabbage-leaves;  whence  the  particles  of  rain  ly- 
ing over  their  furfaces  without  touching  them,  as  obferved  by  Mr.  Melville 
(EfTays  Literary  and  Philofoph.  Edinburgh),  have  the  appearance  of  globu- 
les of  quick-filver.     And  hence  leaves,  laid  with  the  upper  furfaces  on  wa- 
ter, wither  as  foon  as  in  the  dry  air,  but  continue  green  many  days  if  placed 
with  the  under  furfaces  on  water,  as  appears  in  the  experiments  of  Monf. 
Bonnet  (Ufage  des  Feuilles).     Hence  fome  aquatic  plants,  as  the  water-lily 
(Nymphoea),  have  the  lower  fides  of  their  leaves  floating  on  the  water,  while 
the  upper  furfaces  remain  dry  in  the  air, 

5.  As  thofe  infers  which  have  many  fpiracula,  or  breathing  aperture?, 
as  wafps  and  flies,  are  immediately  fuffocated  by  pouring  oil  upon  them,  I 
carefully  covered  with  oil  the  furfaces  of  feveral  leaves  of  Phlomis,  of  Portu- 
gal Laurel,  and  Balfams ;  and  though  it  would  not  regularly  adhere,  I  found 
them  all  die  in  a  day  or  two. 

Of  aquatic  leaves,  fee  note  on  Trapa  and  on  Fucus,  in  vol  II.  to  which 


*$6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  L 

fnuft  be  added,  that  many  leaves  are  furniflied  with  mufcles  about  their 
foot-flalks,  to  turn  their  upper  furfaces  to  the  air  or  light,  as  Mimofa  and 
Hedyi'arum  gyrans.  From  all  thefe  analogies,  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt 
but  that  leaves  of  trees  are  their  lungs,  giving  out  a  phlogiftic  material 
to  the  atmofphere,  and  abforbing  oxygene  or  vital  air. 

6.  The  great  ufe  of  light  to  vegetation  would  appear,  from  this  theory, 
to  be,  by  difengaging  vital   air  from  the  water  which  they  perfpire,  and 
thence  to  facilitate  its  union  with  their  blood,  expofed  beneath  the  thin  fur- 
face  of  their  leaves;   fmce,  when  pure  air  is  thus  applied,  it  is  probable  that 
it  can  be  more  readily  abforbed.     Hence,  in  the  curious  experiments  of  Dr. 
Prieftley  and  Mr.  Ingenhouz,  fome  plants  purified  air  lefs  than  others,  that 
is,  they  perfpired  lefs  in  the  funfhine;  and  Mr.  Scheele  found,  that  by  put- 
ting peas  into  water  which  about  half  covered  them,  they  converted  the 
vital  air  into  fixed  air,  or  carbonic  acid  gas,  in  the  fame  manner  as  in  ani- 
mal refpiration.     See  note  XXXIV. 

7.  The  circulation  in  the  lungs  or  leaves  of  plants  is  very  fimilar  to  that 
of  fifh.     In  fifh,  the  blood,  after  having  paffed  through  their  gills,  does  not 
return  to  the  heart,  as  from  the  lungs  of  air-breathing  animals,  but  the 
pulmonary  vein,  taking  the   ftru&ure  of  an   artery,  after  having  received 
the  blood  from  the  gills,  which  there  gains  a  more  florid  colour,  diftribute* 
it  to  the  other  parts  of  their  bodies.     The  fame  ftrucfture  occurs  in  the  li- 
vers of  fifli,  whence  we  fee,  in  thofe  animals,  two  circulations  -independent 
pf  the  power  of  the  heart,  viz.  that  beginning  at  the  termination  of  the 
veins  of  the  gills,  and  branching  through  the  mufcles,  and  that  which  pafies 
through  the  liver ;  both  which  are   carried  on   by  the  action  of  thofe  re- 
fpe«5Hve  arteries  and  veins.     Monro's  Phyfiology  of  Fifh,  p.  19. 

The  courfe  of  the  fluids  in  the  roots,  leaves,  and  buds  of  vegetables,  feems 
to  be  performed  in  a  manner  fimilar  to  both  thcfe.  Firft  the  abforbent 
veffels  of  the  roots  and  furfaces  unite  at  the  foot-ftalk  of  the  leaf,  and  then, 
like  the  vena  portarum,  an  artery  commences  without  the  intervention  of 
a  heart,  and  fpreads  the  fap,  in  its  numerous  ramifications,  on  the  upper 
furface  of  the  leaf:  here  it  changes  its  colour  and  properties,  and  becomes 
vegetable  blood ;  and  is  again  collected  by  a  pulmonary  vein  on  the  under 
furface  of  the  leaf.  This  vein,  like  that  which  receives  the  blood  from  the 
gills  of  fifh,  affumes  the  office  and  name  of  an  artery,  and,  branching  again, 
difperfes  the  blood  upward  to  the  bud,  from  the  foot-ftalk  of  the  leaf,  and 
downward  to  the  roots;  where  it  is  all  expended  in  the  various  fecretions, 
the  nourilhment  and  growth  of  the  plant,  as  faft  as  it  is  prepared. 

II.  The  organ  of  refpiration  already  fpoken  of  belongs  particularly  to  the 
{hoots  or  buds ;  but  there  is  another  pulmonary  fyftem,  perhaps  totally  in- 
dependent of  the  green  foliage,  which  belongs  to  the  fructification  only ; 
I  mean  the  corcl  or  petals.  In  this  there  is  an  artery  belonging  to  each  pe- 
tal, which  conveys  the  vegetable  blood  to  its  extremities,  expofing  it  to  the 
light  and  air  under  a  delicate  membrane,  covering  the  internal  furface  of 
the  petal,  where  it  often  changes  its  colour,  as  is  beautifully  ieen  in  fome 
party-coloured  poppies;  though  it  is  probable  fome  of  the  iridcfcent  colours 
ef  flowers  may  be  owing  to  the  different  degrees  of  tenuity  of  the  exterior 


NOTE  XXXVII.        ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  237 

membrane  of  the  leaf,  refracting  the  light  like  foap-bubbles ;  the  vegetable 
blood  is  then  returned  by  correfpohdent  vegetable  veins,  exactly  as  in  the 
green  foliage;  for  the  purpofes  of  the  important  fecretions  of  honey,  wax, 
the  finer  effential  oil,  and  the  prolific  dufl  of  the  anthers. 

1.  The  vafcular  ftru&ure  of  the  corol,  as  above  defcribed,  and  which  is 
vifible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  its  expofing  the  vegetable  juices  to  the  air  and 
light  during  the  day,  evinces  that  it  is  a  pulmonary  organ. 

2.  As  the  glands  which  produce  the  prolific  duft  of  the  anthers,  the  honey, 
wax,  and  frequently  fome  odoriferous  effential  oil,  are  generally  attached 
to  the  corol,  and  always  fall  off,  and  perifh  with  it,  it  is  evident  that  the 
blood  is  elaborated  or  oxygenated  in  this  pulmonary  fyftem,  for  the  purpofe 
of  thefe  important  fercretions. 

3.  Many  flowers,  as  the  Colchicum,  and  Hamamelis,  arife  naked  in  au- 
tumn, no  green  leaves  appearing  till  the  enfuing  fpring;  and  mahy  others 
put  forth  their  flowers,  and  complete  their  impregnation,  early  in  the  fpring, 
before  the  green  foliage  appears,  as  Mezerion,  cherries,  pears,  which  mews 
that  thefe  corols  are  the  lungs  belonging  to  the  fructification. 

4.  This  organ  does  not  feem  to  have  been  neceffary  for  the  defence  of 
the   flamens  and  piftils,  fince  the  calyx  of  many  flowers,  as  Tragopogon, 
performs  this  office;  and,  in  many  flowers,  thefe  petals  themfelves  are  fo 
tender  as  to  require  being  fhut  up  in  the  calyx  during  the  night;  for  what 
other  ufe  then  can  fuch  an  apparatus  of  vefTels  be  defigned? 

5.  In  the  Helleborus  niger,  Chriftmas-rofe,  after  the  feeds  are  grown  to 
a  certain  fize,  the  nectaries  and  ftamens  drop  off,  and  the  beautiful  large 
white  petals  change  their  colour  to  a  deep  green,  and  gradually  thus  become 
a  calyx,  inclofing  and  defending  the  ripening  feeds;  hence  it  would  feem 
that  the  white  veffels  of  the  corol  ferved  the  office  of  expofing  the  blood 
to  the  action  of  the  air,  for  the  purpofes  of  feparating  or  producing  the  ho- 
ney, wax,  and  prolific  duft  ;  and  when  thefe  were  no  longer  wanted,  that 
thefe  veffels  coalefced  like  the  pjacental  veffels  of  animals,  after  their  birth, 
and  thus  ceafed  to  perform  that  office,  and  loft,  at  the  fame  time,  their 
white  colour.     Why  fhould  they  lofe  their  white  colour,  unlefs  they,  at  the 
fame  time,  loft  fome  other  property  befides  that  of  defending  the  feed-vef-r 
fel,   which  they  ftill  continue  to  defend? 

6.  From  thefe  obfervations  I  am  led  to  doubt  whether  green  leaves  be  ab- 
folutely  neceffary  to  the  progrefs  of  the  fruit-bud,  after  the  laft  year's  leaves 
are  fallen  off.  The  green  leaves  ferve  as  lungs  to  the  fhoots,  and  fofter  the 
new  buds  in  their  bofoms,  whether  thefe  buds  be  leaf-buds  or  fruit-buds ; 
but  in  the  early  fpring  the  fruit-buds  expand  their  corols,  which  are  their 
lungs,  and  feem  no  longer  to  require  green  leaves;  hence  the  vine  bears 
fruit  at  one  joint  without  leaves,  and  puts  out  a  leaf-bud  at  another  joint 
without  fruit.  And,  I  fuppofe,  the  green  leaves  which  rife  out  of  the 
earth,  in  the  fpring,  from  the  Colchicum,  are  for  the  purpofe  of  producing 
the  new  bulb  and  its  placenta,  and  not  for  the  giving  maturity  to  the  feed. 
When  currant  or  goofberry  trees  lofe  their  leaves  by  the  depredation  of 
infects,  the  fruit  flill  continues  to  be  formed,  though  lefs  fweet  and  lefs 
in  fize. 


238  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

7.  From  thefe  facts  it  appears,  that  the  flower-bud,  after  the  corol  fall* 
eff  (which  is  its  lungs),  and  the  ftamens  and  ne&ary  along  v/ith  it,  becomes 
{imply  an  uterus  for  the  purpofe  of  fupplying  the  growing  enibryon  with 
nourifhment,  together  with  a  fyftem  of  abforbent  veffels,  which  bring  the 
juices  of  the  earth  to  the  foot-ftalk  of  the  fruit,  and  which  there  changes 
into  an  artery,  for  the  purpofe  of  diftributing  the  fap  for  the  fecretion  of 
the  faccharine,  or  farinaceous,  or  acefcent  materials,  for  the  ufe  of  the  em- 
bryon.     At  the  fame  time  as  all  the  veffels  of  the  different  buds  of  trees 
inofculate  or  communicate  with  each  other,  the  fruit  becomes  fweeter  and 
larger  when  the  green  leaves  continue  on  the  tree,  but  the  mature  flowers 
themfelves  (the  fuccecding  fruit  not  confidered),  perhaps  fuffer  little  injury 
from  the  green  leaves  being  taken  off,  as  fome  florifts  have  obferved. 

8,  That  the  veffels  of  different  vegetable  buds  inofculate  in  various  parts 
of  their  circulation,  is  rendered  probable  by  the  increafed  growth  of  one 
bud,  when  others  in  its  vicinity  are  cut  away;  as  it  thus  feems  to  receive 
the  nourifhment  which  was  before  divided  amongft  many. 


NOTE  XXXVIII.— VEGETABLE  IMPREGNATION. 

Love  out  his  hour,  and  leave  his  life  in  ait:.  CANTO  IV.  1.  472. 

FROM  the  accurate  experiments  and  obfervations  of  Spallanzani,  it  ap- 
pears, that  in  the  Spartium  Junceum,  rufh-broom,  the  very  minute  feeds 
were  difcerned  in  the  pod  at  leaft  twenty  days  before  the  flower  is  in  full 
bloom,  that  is,  twenty  days  before  fecundation.  At  this  time  alfo  the  pow- 
der of  the  anthers  was  vifible.  but  glued  fail  to  their  fummits.  The  feeds, 
however,  at  this  time,  and  for  ten  days  after  the  blolTom  had  fallen  off,  ap- 
peared to  confift  of  a  gelatinous  fubftance.  On  the  eleventh  day  after  the 
falling  of  the  bloffom,  the  feeds  became  heart-fhape,  with  the  bafis  attached 
by  an  appendage  to  the  pod,  and  a  white  point  at  the  apex;  this  white 
point  was,  on  preffure,  found  to  be  a  cavity  including  a  drop  of  liquor. 

On  the  25th  day,  the  cavity,  which  at  firft  appeared  at  the  apex,  was 
much  enlarged,  and  ftill  full  of  liquor;  it  alfo  contained  a  very  fmall  lemi- 
tranfparent  body,  of  a  yellowifh  colour,  gelatinous,  and  fixed  by  its  two  op- 
pofite  ends  to  the  fides  of  the  cavity. 

In  a  month  the  feed  was  much  enlarged,  and  its  fhape  changed  from  a 
heart  to  a  kidney;  the  little  body  contained  in  the  cavity  was  increafed  in 
bulk,  and  was  lefs  tranfparent  and  gelatinous,  but  there  yet  appeared  no  or- 
ganization. 

On  the  4Oth  day,  the  cavity,  now  grown  larger,  was  quite  filled  with  the 
body,  which  was  covered  with  a  thin  membrane;  after  this  membrane 
was  removed,  the  body  appeared  of  a  bright  green,  and  was  eafily  divided, 
"by  the  point  of  a  needle,  into  two  portions,  which  manifeftly  formed  the 
two  lobes,  and  within  thefe,  attached  to  the  lower  part,  the  exceedingly 
fmall  plantule  was  eafily  perceived. 


NOTE  XXXVIII,       ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  239 

The  foregoing  obfervations  evince,  I.  That  the  feeds  exift  in  the  ova- 
rium  many  days  before  fecundation,  a.  That  they  remain  for  fome  time 
folid,  and  then  a  tavity,  containing  a  liquid,  is  formed  in  them.  3.  That 
after  fecundation  a  body  begins  to  appear  within  the  cavity,  fixed  by  two 
points  to  the  fides,  which,  in  procefs  of  time,  proves  to  be  two  lobes  contain* 
ing  a  plantule.  4.  That  the  ripe  feed  confiits  of  two  lobes  adhering  to  a 
plantule,  and  furrounded  by  a  thin  membrane,  which  is  itfelf  covered  with  a 
hufk  or  cuticle.  Spallanzani's  Diflertations,  vol.  II.  p.  253. 

The  analogy  between  feeds  and  eggs  has  long  been  obferved,  and  is  con- 
firmed by  the  mode  of  their  production.  The  egg  is  known  to  be  formed 
within  the  hen  long  before  its  impregnation.  C.  F.  Wolf  aflerts,  that  the 
yolk  of  the  egg  is  nourifhed  by  the  veflels  of  the  mother,  and  that  it  has 
from  thofe  its  arterial  and  venous  branches,  but  that  after  impregnation 
thefe  veflels  gradually  become  impervious  and  obliterated,  and  that  new 
ones  are  produced  from  the  foetus,  and  difperfed  into  the  yolk.  Haller's 
Phyfiolog.  Tom.  VIII.  p.  94.  The  young  feed,  after  fecundation,  I  fup- 
pofe,  is  nourifhed  in  a  fimilar  manner,  from  the  gelatinous  liquor,  which  is 
previoufly  depofited  for  that  purpofe;  the  uterus  of  the  plant  producing  or 
fecreting  it  into  a  refervoir  or  amnios,  in  which  the  embryon  is  lodged,  and 
that  the  young  embryon  is  furnifhed  with  veflels  to  abforb  a  part  of  it,  as  in 
the  very  early  embryon  in  the  animal  uterus. 

The  fpawn  of  frogs  and  of  fifh  is  delivered  from  the  female  before  its  im- 
pregnation. M.  Bonnet  fays,  that  the  male  falamander  darts  his  femea 
into  the  water,  where  it  forms  a  little  whitifh  cloud,  which  is  afterwards 
received  by  the  fwoln  anus  of  the  female,  and  me  is  fecundated. — He  adds, 
that  marine  plants  approach  near  to  thefe  animals,  as  the  male  does  not 
project  a  fine  powder,  but  a  liquor,  which,  in  like  manner,  forms  a  little 
cloud  in  the  water. — And  further  adds,  who  knows  but  the  powder  of  the 
ftamina  of  certain  plants  may  make  fome  impreffion  on  certain  germs  be- 
longing to  the  animal  kingdom!  Letter  XLIU.  to  Spallanzani,  Oeuvres 
Philof. 

Spallanzani  found  that  the  feminal  fluid  of  frogs  and  dogs,  even  when 
diluted  with  much  water,  retained  its  prolific  quality.  Whether  this  quality 
be  fimply  a  ftimulus  exciting  the  egg  into  animal  action,  which  may  be 
called  a  vivifying  principle,  or  whether  part  of  it  be  actually  conjoined  with 
the  egg,  is  not  yet  determined,  though  the  latter  feems  more  probable, 
from  the  frequent  refemblance  of  the  foetus  to  the  male  parent.  A  con- 
junction, however,  of  both  the  male  and  female  influence  feems  neceflary 
for  the  purpofe  of  reproduction  throughout  all  organized  nature,  as  well  in 
hermaphrodite  infects,  microfcopic  animals,  and  polypi,  and  exifts  as  welt 
in  the  formation  of  the  buds  of  vegetables,  as  in  the  production  of  their  feeds, 
which  is  ingenioufly  conceived  and  explained  by  Linnaeus.  After  having 
compared  the  flower  to  the  larva  of  a  butterfly,  confiding  of  petals  inttead 
of  wings,  calyxes  inftead  of  wing-fheaths,  with  the  organs  of  reproduction ; 
and  having  fhewn  the  ufe  of  the  farina  in  fecundating  the  egg  or  feed,  he 
proceeds  to  explain  the  production  of  the  bud.  The  calyx  of  a  flower,  he 
fays,  is  an  expanfion  of  the  outer  bark;  the  petals  proceed  from  the  inner 


240  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

bark,  or  rind,  the  flatnens  from  the  alburnum,  or  woody  circle,  and  the  ftyle 
from  the  pith.  In  the  production  and  impregnation  of  the  feed,  a  commix* 
ture  of  the  fecretions  of  the  ftamens  and  ftyle  are  neceflary ;  and  for  the  pro- 
duction of  a  bud,  he  thinks  the  medulla,  or  pith,  burfts  its  integuments,  and 
mixes  with  the  woody  part,  or  alburnum,  and  thefe,  forcing  their  paflage 
through  the  rind  and  bark,  conflitute  the  bud,  or  viviparous  progeny  of  the 
vegetable.  Syflem  of  Vegetables  tranflated  from  Linnaeus,  p.  8. 

It  has  been  fuppofed  that  the  embryon  vegetable,  after  fecundation,  by 
ks  living  activity,  or  ftimulus  exerted  on  the  veffels  of  the  parent  plant, 
may  produce  the  fruit  or  feed-lobes,  as  the  animal  foetus  produces  its  pla- 
centa, and  as  vegetable  buds  may  be  fuppofed  to  produce  their  umbilical 
veflels  or  ropts,  down  the  bark  of  the  tree.  This,  in  refpect  to  the  produc- 
tion of  the  fruit  furrounding  the  feeds  of  trees,  has  been  aflimilated  to  the 
gall-nuts  on  oak-leaves,  and  to  the  bedeguar  on  briars;  but  there  is  a  power- 
ful objection  to  this  doctrine,  viz.  that  the  fruit  of  figs,  all  which  are  female 
in  this  country,  grow  nearly  as  large  without  fecundation,  and,  therefore,  the 
embryon  has  in  them  no  felf-living  principle. 


NOTE  XXXIX.— VEGETABLE  GLANDULATION. 

Seeksy  ivhere  Jine  pares  their  dulcet  balm  dijl'il.  CANTO  IV.  1.  533. 

THE  glands  of  vegetables,  which  feparate  from  their  blood  the  mucilage, 
ftarch,  o'r  fugar,  for  the  placentation  or  fupport  of  their  feeds,  bulbs,  and 
buds;  or  thofe  which  depofit  their  bitter,  acrid,  or  narcotic  juices  for  their 
defence  from  depredations  of  infects  or  larger  animals;  or  thofe  which 
fecrete  refins  or  wax  for  their  protection  from  moifture  or  frofts,  confift  of 
veflels  too  fine  for  the  injection  or  abforption  of  coloured  fluids,  and  have 
not,  therefore,  yet  been  exhibited  to  the  infpection  even  of  our  glafles,  and 
can,  therefore,  only  be  known  by  their  effects;  but  one  of  the  molt  curious 
and  important  of  all  vegetable  fecretions,  that  of  honey,  is  apparent  to  our 
naked  eyes,  though,  before  the  difcoveries  of  Linnasus,  the  nectary,  or  honey- 
gland,  had  not  even  acquired  a  name. 

The  odoriferous  eflential  oils  of  feveral  flowers  feem  to  have  been  defign- 
cd  for  their  defence  againft  the  depredations  of  infects,  while  their  beautiful 
colours  were  a  neceflary  confequence  of  the  fize  of  the  particles  of  their 
blood,  or  of  the  tenuity  of  the  exterior  membrane  of  the  petal.  The  ufc 
of  the  prolific  duft  is  now  well  afcertained ;  the  wax  which  covers  the  an- 
thers prevents  this  duft  from  receiving  moifture,  which  would  make  it 
burft  prematurely,  and  thence  prevent  its  application  to  the  ftigma,  as  fome- 
times  happens  in  moift  years,  and  is  the  caufe  of  deficient  fecundation,  both 
of  our  fields  and  orchards. 

The  univerfality  of  the  production  of  honey  in  the  vegetable  world,  and 
the  very  complicated  apparatus  which  natnre  has  conftructed  in  many  flow- 
ers, as  well  as  the  acrid  or  deleterious  juices  flae  has  furniihed  thofe  flowers 


NOTE  XXXIX.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  241 

with  (as  in  the  Aconite)  to  protect  this  honey  from  rain,  and  from  the 
depredations  of  infects,  feem  to  imply  that  this  fluid  is  of  very  great  im- 
portance in  the  vegetable  economy;  and  alfo,  that  it  was  neceffary  to  expofe 
it  to  the  open  air  previous  to  its  re-abforption  into  the  vegetable  vefiels. 

In  the  animal  fyilem  the  lachrymal  gland  feparates  its  fluid  into  the 
open  air,  for  the  purpofe  of  moiftening  the  eye;  of  this  fluid,  the  part 
which  does  not  exhale  is  abforbed  by  the  pun<5ta  lachrymalia,  and  carried 
into  the  noftrils;  but  as  this  is  not  a  nutritive  fluid,  the  analogy  goes  no 
further  than  its  fecretion  into  the  open  air,  and  its  re-abforption  into  the 
fyftem ;  every  other  fecreted  fluid  in  the  animal  body  is  in  part  abforbed 
again  into  the  fyftem;  even  thofe  which  are  efteemed  excrementitious,  as 
the  urine  and  perfpirable  matter,  of  which  the  latter  is  fecreted,  like  the 
honey,  into  the  external  air.  That  the  honey  is  a  nutritious  fluid,  perhaps 
the  moft  fo  of  any  vegetable  production,  appears  from  its  great  fimilarity 
to  fugar,  and  from  its  affording  fuftenance  to  fuch  numbers  of  infects,  which 
live  upon  it  folely  during  fummer,  and  lay  it  up  for  their  winter  provifion. 
Thefe  proofs  of  its  nutritive  nature  evince  the  neceflity  of  its  re-abforption 
into  the  vegetable  fyftem,  for  fome  ufeful  purpofe. 

This  purpofe,  however,  has,  as  yet,  efcaped  the  refearches  of  philofophi- 
cal  botanifts.  M.  Pontedera  believes  it  deligned  to  lubricate  the  vegetable 
uterus,  and  compares  the  horn-like  nectaries  of  fome  flowers  to  the  appen- 
dicle  of  the  czecum  inteftinum  of  animals.  (Antholog.  p.  49.)  Others  have 
fuppofed,  that  the  honey,  when  re-abforbed,  might  ferve  the  purpofe  of  the 
liquor  amnii,  or  white  of  the  egg,  as  a  nutriment  for  the  young  embryon, 
or  fecundated  feed,  in  its  early  ftate  of  exiftence.  But  as  the  nectary  is 
found  equally  general  in  male  flowers  as  in  female  ones;  and  as  the 
young  embryon,  or  feed,  grows  before  the  petals  and  nectary  are  expanded, 
and  after  they  fall  off;  and,  thirdly,  as  the  nectary  fo  foon  falls  off  after 
the  fecundation  of  the  piftillum ;  thefe  fcem  to  be  infurmoun table  objec- 
tions to  both  the  above-mentioned  opinions. 

In  this  ftate  of  uncertainty,  conjectures  may  be  of  ufe  fo  far  as  they  lead 
to  further  experiment  and  inveftigation.  In  many  tribes  of  infects,  as  the 
filk-worra,  and,  perhaps,  in  all  the  moths  and  butterflies,  the  male  and  fe- 
male parents  die  as  foon  as  the  eggs  are  impregnated  and  excluded;  the  eggs 
remaining  to  be  perfected  and  hatched  at  fome  future  time.  The  fame  thing 
happens  in  regard  to  the  male  and  female  parts  of  flowers;  the  anthers  and 
filaments,  which  conftitute  the  male  parts  cf  the  flower,  and  the  ftigma 
and  ftyle,  which  confcitute  the  female  parts  of  the  flower,  fall  off,  and  die, 
as  foon  as  the  feeds  arc  impregnated,  and  along  with  thefe  the  petals  and 
nectary.  Now,  the  moths  and  butterflies  above-mentioned,  as  foon  as  they 
acquire  the  paflion  and  the  apparatus  for  the  reproduction  of  their  fpccies, 
lofe  the  power  of  feeding  upon  leaves  as  they  did  before,  and  become 
nourilhed  by  what  ? — by  honey  alone. 

Hence  we  acquire  a  ftrong  analogy  for  the  ufe  of  the  nectary,  or  fecre- 
tion of  honey  in  the  vegetable  economy,  which  is,  that  the  male  parts  of 
flowers,  and  the  female  parts,  as  foon  as  they  leave  their  foetus-ftate,  ex- 
panding their  petals  (which  conftitute  tlicir  lungs),  become  fenfible  to  the 

PART  I.  2  I 


24s  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

paffion,  and  gain  the  apparatus  for  the  reproduction  of  their  fpecies,  and 
are  fed  and  nourifhed  with  honey,  like  the  infects  above  defcribed;  and  that 
hence  the  nectary  begins  its  office  of  producing  honey,  and  dies,  or  ceafes  to 
produce  honey,  at  the  fame  time  with  the  birth  and  death  of  the  ftamens 
and  the  piftils;  which,  whether  exifting  in  the  fame  or  in  different  flowers, 
are  feparate  and  diftinct  animated  beings. 

Previous  tq  this  time,  the  anthers  with  their  filaments,  and  the  ftigmaa 
•with  their  ftyles,  are,  in  their  foetus-ftate,  fuftained  by  their  placental  vef- 
fels,  like  the  unexpanded  leaf-bud,  with  the  feeds  exifting  in  the  vegetable 
womb,  yet  un impregnated,  and  the  dull,  yet  unripe,  in  the  cells  of  the  an- 
thers. After  this  period  they  expand  their  petals,  which  have  been  fhewn 
above  to  conftitute  the  lungs  of  the  flower;  the  placental  veflcls,  which  be- 
fore nourifhed  the  anthers  and  the  ftigmas,  coalelce,  or  ceafe  to  nourifh 
them;  and  they  now  acquire  blood  more  oxygenated  by  the  air,  obtain  the 
pafllon  and  power  of  reproduction,  are  fenfible  to  heat,  and  cold,  and 
moifture,  and  to  mechanic  ftimulus,  and  become,  in  reality,  infects  fed  with 
honey,  fimikr  in  every  refpect,  except  their  being  attached  to  the  tree  on 
which  they  were  produced. 

Some  experiments  I  have  made  this  fummer,  by  cutting  out  the  nectaries 
of  feveral  flowers  of  the  aconites,  before  the  petals  were  open,  or  had  be- 
come much  coloured :  fume  of  thefe  flowers,  near  the  fummit  of  the  plants, 
produced  no  feeds;  others,  lower  down,  produced  feeds;  but  they  were  not 
fufficiently  guarded  from  the  farina  of  the  flowers  in  their  vicinity;  nor 
have  I  had  opportunity  to  try  if  thcfe  feeds  would  vegetate. 

I  am  acquainted  with  a  philofopher,  who,  contemplating  this  fubjeet, 
thinks  it  not  impofilble,  that  the  firft  infects  were  the  anthers  or  ftigmas  of 
flowers ;  which  had,  by  fome  means,  loofed  themfelves  from  their  parent 
plant,  like  the  male  flowers  of  Vallifneiia ;  and  that  many  other  infects 
have  gradually,  in  long  procefs  of  time,  been  formed  from  thefe;  fome  ac- 
quiring wings,  others  fins,  and  others  claws,  from  their  ceafelefs  efforts  to 
procure  their  food,  or  to  fecure  themfelves  from  injury.  He  contends,  that 
none  of  thefe  changes  are  more  incomprehenfible  than  the  transformation 
of  tadpoles  into  frogs,  and  caterpillars  into  butterflies. 

There  are  parts  of  animal  bodies  which  do  not  require  oxygenated  blood 
for  the  purpofe  of  their  fecretions,  as  the  liver,  which,  for  the  production 
of  bile,  takes  its  blood  from  the  mefenteric  veins,  after  it  muft  have  loft 
the  whole  or  a  great  part  of  its  oxygenation,  which  it  had  acquired  in  its 
paffage  through  the  lungs.  In  like  manner  the  pericarpium,  or  womb  of 
the  flower,  continues  to  fecrete  its  proper  juices  for  the  prefent  nourifh- 
ment  of  the  newly  animated  embryon-feed;  and  the  faccharine,  acefcent, 
or  ftarchy  matter  of  the  fruit  or  feed-lobes,  for  its  future  growth,  in  the 
fame  manner  as  thefe  things  went  on  before  fecundation  ;  that  is,  without 
any  circulation  of  juices  in  the  petals,  or  production  of  honey  in  the  nec- 
tary; thefe  having  perifhed,  and  fallen  off,  with  the  male  and  female  ap- 
paratus for  impregnation. 

It  is  probable  that  the  depredations  of  infects  on  this  nutritious  fluid,  mufl 
be  injurious  to  the  products  of  vegetation,  and  would  be  much  more  fo, 


NOTE  XXXIX.        ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  243 

but  that  the  plants  have  either  acquired  means  to  defend  their  honey  in 
part,  or  have  learned  to  make  more  than  is  abfolutely  neceflary  for  their 
own  economy.  In  the  fame  manner  the  honey-dew  on  trees  is  very  inju- 
rious to  them;  in  which  difeafe  the  nutritive  fluid,  the  vegetable  fap-juice, 
feems  to  be  exfuded  by  a  retrograde  motion  of  the  cutaneous  lymphatics, 
as  in  the  fweating  ficknefs  of  the  laft  century.  To  prevent  the  depreda- 
tion of  infects  on  honey,  a  wealthy  man  in  Italy  is  faid  to  have  poifoned 
his  neighbour's  bees,  perhaps  by  mixing  arfenic  with  honey,  againft  which 
there  is  a  moft  flowery  declamation  in  Quintilian,  No.  XIII.  As  the  ufc 
of  the  wax  is  to  preferve  the  duft  of  the  anthers  from  moifture,  which 
would  prematurely  burft  them,  the  bees  which  collect  this  for  the  conftruc- 
tion  of  the  combs  or  cells,  muft,  on  this  account,  alfo  injure  the  vegetation 
of  a  country  where  they  too  much  abound. 

It  is  not  eafy  to  conjecture  why  it  was  neceflary  that  this  fecretion  of  ho- 
ney fhould  be  expofed  to  the  open  air  in  the  nectary,  or  honey-cup,  for 
which  purpofe  fo  great  an  apparatus  for  its  defence  from  infects  and  from 
fhowers  became  neceffary.  This  difficulty  increafes  when  we  recollect  that 
the  fugar  in  the  joints  of  grafs,  in  the  fugar-cane,  and  in  the  roots  of  beets, 
and  in  ripe  fruits,  is  produced  without  expofu*e  to  the  air. — On  fuppofition 
of  its  ferving  for  nutriment  to  the  anthers  and  fligmas,  it  may  thus  acquire 
greater  oxygenation,  for  the  purpofe  of  producing  greater  powers  of  fenfi- 
bility,  according  to  a  doctrine  lately  advanced  by  a  French  philofopher, 
who  has  endeavoured  to  fhew,  that  the  oxygene,  or  bafe  of  vital  air,  is  the 
conftituent  principle  of  our  power  of  fenfibility. 

So  caterpillars  are  fed  upon  the  common  juices  of  vegetables  found  in 
their  leaves,  till  they  acquire  the  organs  of  reproduction,  and  then  they  feed 
on  honey ;  all,  I  believe,  except  the  filk-worm,  which,  in  this  country,  takes, 
no  nourifhment  after  it  becomes  a  butterfly.  Thus  alfo  the  maggot  of  the 
bee,  according  to  the  obfervations  of  Mr.  Hunter,  is  fed  with  raw  vegeta- 
ble matter,  called  bee-bread,  which  is  collected  from  the  anthers  of  flowers, 
and  laid  up  in  cells  for  that  purpofe,  till  the  maggot  becomes  a  winged 
bee,  acquires  greater  fenfibility,  and  is  fed  with  honey.  Phil.  Tranf.  1792. 
See  Zoonomia,  Sect.  XIII.  on  vegetable  animation. 

From  this  provifion  of  honey  for  the  male  and  female  parts  of  flowers, 
and  from  the  provifion  of  fugar,  ftarch,  oil,  and  mucilage,  in  the  fruits, 
feed-cotyledons,  roots,  and  buds  of  plants,  laid  up  for  the  nutriment  of  the 
expanding  foetus,  not  only  a  very  numerous  clafs  of  infects,  but  a  great 
part  cf  the  larger  animals  procure  their  food,  and  thus  enjoy  life  and  plea- 
fure  without  producing  pain  to  others ;  for  thefe  feeds  or  eggs,  with  the 
nutriment  laid  up  in  them,  are  not  yet  endued  with  fenfitive  life. 

The  fecretions  from  various  vegetable  glands,  hardened  in  the  air,  pro- 
duce gums,  refins,  and  various  kinds  of  faccharine,  faponaceous,  and  wax- 
like  fubftances,  as  the  gum  of  cherry  or  plumb  trees,  gum  tragacanth 
from  the  aftragulus  tragacantha,  camphor  from  the  laurus  camphora,  elemi 
from  amyris  elemifera,  aneme  from  hymencea  courbaril,  turpentine  from  pif- 
tacia  terebinthus,  balfam  of  Mecca  from  the  buds  of  amyris  opobalfamum, 
branches  of  which  are  placed  in  the  temples  of  the  Eaft,  on  account  of  their 


444  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART!. 

fragrance;  the  wood  is  called  xylobalfamum,  and  the  fruit  carpobalfamum ; 
aloe  from  a  plant  of  the  fame  name,  myrrh  from  a  plant  not  yet  defcribed; 
the  remarkably  elaftic  refin  is  brought  into  Europe  principally  in  the  form 
of  flaflcs,  which  look  like  black  leather,  and  are  wonderfully  elaftic,  and  not 
penetrable  by  water ;  rectified  ether  dillblves  it ;  its  inflexibility  is  increafed 
by  warmth,  and  deftroyed  by  cold;  the  tree  which  yields  this  juice  is  the 
jatropha  elaftica ;  it  grows  in  Guaiana  and  the  neighbouring  tracls  of  Ame- 
rica ;  its  juice  is  faid  to  refemble  wax,  in  becoming  foft  by  heat,  but  that  it 
acquires  no  elafticity  till  that  property  is  communicated  to  it  by  a  fecret  art, 
after  which  it  is  poured  into  moulds,  and  well  dried,  and  can  no  longer 
be  rendered  fluid  by  heat. — Mr.  de  la  Borde,  pbyfician  at  Cayenne,  has 
given  this  account.  Manna  is  obtained  at  Naples  from  the  fraxinus  ornus, 
or  manna-aih  ;  it  partly  iffues  fpontaneoufly,  which  is  preferred,  and  partly 
exfudes  from  wounds  made  purpofely  in  the  month  of  Auguft ;  many  other 
plants  yield  manna  more  fparingly.  Sugar  is  properly  made  from  the  fac- 
charum  officinale,  or  fugar-cane,  but  is  found  in  the  roots  of  beet  and  many 
other  plants;  American  wax  is  obtained  from  the  myrica  cerifera,  candle- 
berry  myrtle ;  the  berries  are  boiled  in  water,  and  a  green  wax  feparates; 
with  lukc-warm  water,  the  wax  is  yellow:  the  feeds  of  croton  febifcrum  arc 
lodged  in  tallow:  there  are  many  other  vegetable  exfudations  ufed  in  the 
various  arts  of  dyeing,  varnifliing,  tanning,  lacquering,  and  which  fupply 
the  fhop  of  the  druggifl  with  medicines  and  with  poifons. 

There  is  another  analogy,  which  would  feem  to  aflbciate  plants  with  ani- 
mals, and  which,  perhaps,  belongs  to  this  note  on  Glandulation ;  I  mean 
the  fimilarity  of  their  digeitive  powers.  In  the  roots  of  growing  vegeta- 
bles, as  in  the  procefs  of  making  malt,  the  farinaceous  part  of  the  feed 
is  converted  into  fugar  by  the  vegetable  power  of  digeftion,  in  the 
fame  manner  as  the  farinaceous  matter  of  feeds  is  converted  into  fweet 
chyle  by  the  animal  digeftion.  The  fap-juice  which  rifes  in  the  vernal 
months  from  the  roots  of  trees,  through  the  alburnum,  or  fap-wood,  owes 
its  fweetnefs,  I  fuppofe,  to  a  fimilar  digeftive  power  of  the  abforbent  fyf- 
tem  of  the  young  buds.  This  exifts  in  many  vegetables  in  great  abundance, 
as  in  vines,  fycamore,  birch,  and  moft  abundantly  in  the  palm-tree  (Ifert's 
Voyage  to  Guinea),  and  feems  to  be  a  fimilar  fluid  in  all  plants,  as  chyle  is 
fimilar  in  all  animals. 

Hence,  as  the  digefted  food  of  vegetables  confifls  principally  of  fugar,  and 
from  that  is  produced  again  their  mucilage,  ftarch,  and  oil,  and  fince  ani- 
mals are  fuftained  by  thefe  vegetable  productions,  it  would  feem,  that  the 
fugar-making  procefs  carried  on  in  vegetable  veflels  was  the  great  fource  of 
life  to  all  organized  beings.  And  that,  if  our  improved  chemiftry  fhould 
ever  difco.ver  the  art  of  making  fugar  from  foflile  or  aerial  matter,  without 
the  afliftance  of  vegetation,  food  for  animals  would  then  become  as  plentiful 
as  water,  and  mankind  might  live  upon  the  earth  as  thick  as  blades  of  grafs, 
with  no  reftraint  to  their  numbers  but  the  want  of  local  room. 

It  would  feem,  that  roots  fixed  in  the  earth,  and  leaves,  innumerable, 
waving  in  the  air,  were  necefiary  for  the  decompofition  of  water,  and  the 
fcnvcrfion  of  it  into  faccharine  matter,  which  would  have  been  not  only 


NOTE  XXXIX.         ADDITIONAL  NOTES.  244 

cumberous,  but  totally  incompatible  with  the  locomotion  of  animal  bodies. 
For  how  could  a  man  or  quadruped  have  carried  on  his  head  or  back  a  foreft 
of  leaves,  or  have  had  long  branching  ladleal  or  abforbent  veffels  terminat- 
ing in  the  earth?  Animals,  therefore,  fubfift  on  vegetables;  that  is,  they 
take  the  matter  fo  far  prepared,  and  have  organs  to  prepare  it  further  for 
the  purpofes  of  higher  animation,  and  greater  fenfibility.  In  the  fame  man- 
ner the  apparatus  of  green  leaves  and  long  roots  were  found  inconvenient 
for  the  more  animated  and  fenfitive  parts  of  vegetable  flowers ;  I  mean  the 
anthers  and  ftigmas,  which  are,  therefore,  feparate  beings,  endued  with  the 
paflion  and  power  of  reproduction,  with  lungs  of  their  own,  and  fed  with 
honey,  a  food  ready  prepared  by  the  long  roots  and  green  leaves  of  the  plant, 
and  prefented  to  their  abforbent  mouths. 

From  this  outline,  a  phUofopher  may  catch  a  glimpfe  of  the  general  eco* 
nomy  of  nature ;  and,  like  the  mariner  call  upon  an  unknown  fhorc,  who 
rejoiced  when  he  faw  the  print  of  a  human  foot  upon  the  fand,  he  may  cry 
out  with  rapture,  "  A  GOD  DWELLS  HERE," 


VISIT  OF   HOPE 

TO 

SYDNEY  COVE, 

NEAR 

BOTANY-BAY. 

Referred  to  in   Canto  II.  1.  317. 


WHERE  Sydney  Cove  her  lucid  bofom  fwells, 
And  with  wide  arms  the  indignant  ftorm  repels; 
High  on  a  rock,  amid  the  troubled  air, 
HOPE  flood  fublime,  and  wav'd  her  golden  hair; 
Calm'd  with  her  rofy  fmile  the  toiling  deep, 
And  with  fweet  accents  charm'd  the  winds  to  fleep; 
To  each  wild  plain  fhe  ftretchM  her  fnowy  hand, 
High-waving  wood,  and  fea-encircled  ftrand. 
"  Hear  me,"  fhe  cried,  "  ye  riling  realms!  record 
"  Time's  opening  fcenes,  and  Truth's  prophetic  word. — - 
"  'There  fhall  broad  ftreets  their  ftately  walls  extend, 
"  The  circus  widen,  and  the  crefcent  bend; 
"  There,  ray'd  from  cities  o'er  the  cultur'd  land, 
•"  Shall  bright  canals,  and  folid  roads  expand. — 
"  There  the  proud  arch,  coloffus-like,  beftride 
"  Yon  glittering  ftreams,  and  bound  the  chafing  tide; 
"  Embellifh'd  villas  crown  the  landfcape-fcene, 
"  Farms  wave  with  gold,  and  orchards  blufh  between. — 
"  There  fhall  tall  fpires,  and  dome-capt  towers  afcend, 
"  And  piers  and  quays  their  mafiy  ftru&ures  blend; 
"  While  with  each  breeze  approaching  veflels  glide, 
"  And  northern  treafures  dance  on  every  tide!" 
Then  ceas'd  the  nymph — tumultuous  echoes  roar, 
And  Joy's  loud  voice  was  heard  from  fhore  to  fhore — 
Her  graceful  fteps,  defcending,  prefs'd  the  plain, 
'And  PEACE,  and  ART,  and  LABOUR,  join'd  her  train. 

Mr.  Wedgwood,  having  been  favoured  by  Sir  Jofeph  Banks  with  a  fpe- 
cimen  of  clay  from  Sydney  Cove,  has  made  a  few  medallions  of  it,  repre- 
fenting  HOPE  encouraging  ART  and  LABOUR,  under  the  influence  of  PEACE, 
to  purfue  the  employments  necefiary  for  rendering  an  infant  colony  fecurc 
and  happy.  The  above  verfes  were  written  by  the  author  of  the  Botanic 
Garden,  to  accompany  thefe  medallions. 


THE 

BOTANIC  GARDEN. 

CONTENTS 

OF    THE 

ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 


NOTE  I. — METEORS. 

JL  HERE  arc  four  ftrata  of  the  atmofphere,  and  four  kinds  of  meteors. 
I.  Lightning  is  electric,  exifts  in  vifible  clouds,  its  fhort  courfe,  and  red 
light.  2.  Shooting  {tars  exift  in  vifible  vapour,  without  found,  white 
light,  have  no  luminous  trains.  3.  Twilight;  fire-balls  move  thirty  miles 
in  a  fecond,  and  are  about  fixty  miles  high;  have  luminous  trains,  occafioned 
by  an  electric  fpark  palling  between  the  aerial  and  inflammable  ftrata  of 
the  atmofphere,  and  mixing  them  and  fetting  them  on  fire  in  its  paiTage ; 
attracted  by  volcanic  eruptions ;  one  thoufand  miles  through  fuch  a  medium 
refills  lefs  than  the  tenth  of  an  inch  of  glafs.  4.  Northern  lights  not  at- 
tracted to  a  point,  but  diffufed;  their  colours;  paflage  of  electric  fire  in  va- 
cuo  dubious ;  Dr.  Franklin's  theory  of  northern  lights  countenaced  in  part 
by  the  fuppofition  of  a  fuperior  atmofphere  of  inflammable  air;  antiquity  of 
their  appearance;  defcribed  in  Maccabees. 

NOTE  II. — PRIMARY  COLOURS. 

THE  rainbow  Was  in  part  understood  before  Sir  Ifaac  Newton;  the  feveti 
colours  were  difcovered  by  him;  Mr.  Gallon's  experiments  on  colours; 
manganefe  and  lead  produce  colourlefs  glafs. 

NOTE  III. — COLOURED  CLOUDS. 

THE  rays  refracted  by  the  convexity  of  the  atmofphere;  the  particles  of 
air  and  of  water  are  blue;  fhadow  by  means  of  a  candle  in  the  day;  halo 
round  the  moon  in  a  fog;  bright  fpot  in  the  cornea  of  the  eye;  light  from 
cat's  eyes  in  the  dark,  from  a  horfe's  eyes  in  a  cavern,  coloured  by  the 
choroid  coat  within  the  eye. 

NOTE  IV. — COMETS. 

TAILS  of  comets  from  rarified  vapour,  like  northern  lights,  from  elec- 
tricity; twenty  millions  of  miles  long;  expected  comet;  7 a  comets  already 
defcribed. 


248  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PA  RT  I. 

NOTE  V. — SUN'S  RAYS. 

DISPUTE  about  phlogifton;  the  fun  the  fountain  from  whence  all  phlo-^ 
gifton  is  derived;  its  rays  not  luminous  till  they  arrive  at  our  atmofphere ; 
light  owing  to  their  combuftion  with  air,  whence  an  unknown  acid;  the  fun 
is  on  fire  only  on  its  furface;  the  dark  fpots  on  it  are  excavations  through 
its  luminous  cruft. 

NOTE  VI. — CENTRAL  FIRES. 

SUN'S  heat  much  lefs  than  that  from  the  fire  at  the  earth's  centre;  fun's 
heat  penetrates  but  a  few  feet  in  fummer ;  fome  mines  are  warm ;  warm 
fprings  owing  to  fubterraneous  fire ;  fituations  of  volcanos  on  high  moun- 
tains; original  nucleus  of  the  earth;  deep  vallies  of  the  orean;  diftant  per- 
ception of  earthquakes;  great  attraction  of  mountains;  variation  of  the  com- 
pafs;  countenance  the  exiftence  of  a  cavity  or  fluid  lava  within  the  earth. 

NOTE  VII — ELEMENTARY  HEAT. 

COMBINED  and  fenfible  heat;  chemical  combinations  attract  heat,  folu- 
tions  reject  heat;  ice  cools  boiling  water  fix  times  as  much  as  cold  water 
cools  it;  cold  produced  by  evaporation;  heat  by  devaporation ;  capacities  of 
bodies  in  refpeA  to  heat :  I.  Exiilence  of  the  matter  of  heat  fhewn  from 
the  mechanical  condenfation  and  rarefaclion  of  air,  from  the  fteam  produc- 
ed in  exhaufting  a  receiver,  fnow  from  rarified  air,  cold  from  difcharging 
an  air-gun,  heat  from  vibration  or  fridtion ;  2.  Matter  of  heat  analogous  to 
the  eledric  fluid  in  many'circumftances,  explains  many  chemical  phenomena. 

NOTE   VIII. — MEMNON'S  LYRE. 

MECHANICAL  impulfe  of  light  dubious;  a  glafs  tube  laid  horizontally 
before  a  fire  revolves;  pulfe-glafs  fufpended  on  a  centre;  black  leather  con- 
tracls  in  the  funfhine ;  Memnon's  ftatue  broken  by  Cambyfes. 

NOTE  IX. — LUMINOUS  INSECTS. 

EIGHTEEN  fpecies  of  glow-worm,  their  light  owing  to  their  refpiration 
in  tranfparent  lungs;  Acudia  of  Surinam  gives  light  enough  to  read  and 
draw  by;  ufe  of  its  light  to  the  infect;  luminous  fea-infecls  adhere  to  the 
fkin  of  thofe  who  bathe  in  the  ports  of  Languedoc;  the  light  may  arifc 
from  putrefcent  flime. 

NOTE  X. — PHOSPHORUS. 

DISCOVERED  by  Kunkel,  Brandt,  and  Boyle ;  produced  in  refpiration, 
and  by  luminous  infecls,  decayed  wood,  and  calcined  fhells;  bleaching  a 
flow  combuftion  in.  which  the  water  is  decompofed;  rancidity  of  animal  fat 
owing  to  the  decompofition  of  water  on  its  furface;  aerated  marine  acid 
does  not  whiten  or  bleach  the  hand. 

NOTE  XI. — STEAM-ENGINE. 

HERO  of  Alexandria  firft  applied  fteam  to  machinery,  next  a  French  wri- 
ter in  1630,  the  Marquis  of  Worcefter  in  1655,  Capt.  Savery  in  1689, 


CONTENTS  OF  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.        249 

Ncwcomen  and  Cawley  added  the  pifton ;  the  improvements  of  Watt  and 
Boulton;  power  of  one  of  their  large  engines  equal  to  two  hundred  horfes. 

NOTE  XII.— FROST. 

EXPANSION  of  water  in  freezing;  injury  done  by  vernal  frofts;  fifli,  eggs, 
feeds,  refill  congelation;  animals  do  not  refift  the  increafe  of  heat;  frofts  do 
not  meliorate  the  ground,  nor  are,  in  general,  falubrious;  damp  air  produces 
cold  on  the  fkin  by  evaporation;  fnow  lefs  pernicious  to  agriculture  than 
heavy  rains  for  two  reafons. 

NOTE  XIII. — ELECTRICITY, 

I.  Points  preferable  to  knobs  for  defence  of  building's;  why  points  emit 
the  electric  fluid;  diffufion  of  oil  on  water;  mountains  are  points  on  the 
earth's  globe;  do  they  produce  afcending  currents  of  air?  1.  Fairy-rings  ex- 
plained ;  advantage  of  paring  and  burning  ground. 

NOTE  XIV. — BUDS  and  BULBS. 

A  TREE  is  a  fwarm  of  individual  plants  ;  vegetables  are  either  oviparous 
or  viviparous  ;  are  all  annual  productions  like  many  kinds  of  infects ;  hy- 
bernacula;  a  new  bark  annually  produced  over  the  old  one,  in  trees  and  in 
fome  herbaceous  plants,  whence  their  roots  feem  end-bitten;  all  bulbous 
roots  perifli  annually;  experiment  on  a  tulip-root;  both  the  leaf-bulbs  and 
flower-bulbs  are  annually  renewed. 

NOTE  XV. —  SOLAR  VOLCANOS. 

THE  fpots  in  the  fun  are  cavities,  fome  of  them  four  thoufand  miles 
deep,  and  many  times  as  broad;  internal  parts  of  the  fun  are  not  in  a  ftate 
of  combuftion;  volcanos  vifible  in  the  fun;  all  the  planets  together  are  lefs 
than  one  fix  hundred  and  fiftieth  part  of  the  fun;  planets  were  ejected  from 
the  fun  by  volcanos;  many  reafons  fhewing  the  probability  of  this  hypo- 
thefis ;  Mr.  Buffon's  hypothefis,  that  planets  were  flruck  off  from  the  fun 
by  comets;  why  no  new  planets  are  ejected  from  the  fun;  fome  comets, 
and  the  georgium  fidus,  may  be  of  later  date;  fun's  matter  decreafed;  Mr. 
Ludlam's  opinion,  that  it  is  poffible  the  moon  might  be  projected  from 
the  earth. 

NOTE  XVI. — CALCAREOUS  EARTH. 

HIGH  mountains  and  deep  mines  replete  with  fhells;  the  earth's  nucleus 
covered  with  lime-ftone ;  animals  convert  water  into  lime-ftone ;  all  the  cal- 
careous earth  in  the  world  formed  in  animal  and  vegetable  bodies;  folid 
parts  of  the  earth  increafe;  the  water  decreafes;  tops  of  calcareous  moun- 
tains diflblved;  whence  fpar,  marble,  chalk,  ftalactites;  whence  alabafter, 
fluor,  flint,  granulated  lime-ftone,  from  folution  of  their  angles,  and  by  at- 
trition ;  tupha  depofited  on  mofs;  lime-ftones  from  fhells  with  animals  in 
them;  liver-ftone  from  frefh-watcr  mufcles;  calcareous  earth  from  land- 
animals  and  vegetables,  as  marl;  beds  of  marble  foftened  by  fire;  whence 
Bath-ftone  contains  lime  as  well  as  lime-ftone. 

PART  I.  2K 


BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

NOTE  XVII.— MORASSES. 

production  of  moraffes  from  fallen  woods;  account  by  the  Earl  Cro-1 
martie  of  a  new  morafs;  moratfes  lofe  their  falts  by  folution  in  water  ;  then 
their  iron ;  their  vegetable  acid  is  converted  into  marina,  nitrous,  and  vi- 
triolic acid;  whence  gypfum,  alum,  fulphur;  into  fluor-acid,  whence  fluor; 
into  iiliceous  acid,  whence  flint,  the  faud  of  the  fea,  and  other  ftrata  of 
Siliceous  fan'd  and  marl;  fonie  m'oraffes  ferment  like  new  hay,  and,  fub lim- 
ing their  phlogiftic  part,  form  coal-beds  above  and  clay  below,  which  are 
alfo  produced  by  elutriation  ;  fhell-fiih  in  fome  moraffes,  hence  {hells  fome- 
times  found  on  coals,  and  over  iron-Hone. 

NOTE  XVIIL— IRON. 

CALCIFORM  ores  ;  combuition  of  iron  in  vital  air;  fteelfrom  deprivation 
of  vital  air;  welding;  hardnefs;  brittlenefs  like  Rupert's  drops;  fpecific 
levity;  hardnefs  and  brittlenefs  compared;  fteel  tempered  by  its  colours-; 
modern  production  of  iron,  manganefe,  calamy;  feptaria  of  iron-ftonc 
ejected  from  volcanos ;  red-hot  cannon-balls. 

NOTE  XIX.— FLINT. 

I.  Siliceous  roc-h  from  moraifes  ;  their  cements.  2.  Siliceous  tree s ;  coloured 
by  iron  or  manganefe;  Peak-diamonds  ;  Briftol-ftones;  flint  in  form  of  cal- 
careous fpar ;  has  been  fluid  without  much  heat;  obtained  from  powdered 
quartz  and  fluor-acid  by  Bergman  and  by  Achard.  3.  Agates  and  onyxes 
found  in  fand-rocks;  of  vegetable  origin;  have  been  in  complete  fufion; 
their  concentric  coloured  circles  not  from  fuperindu<5lion,  but  from  congela- 
tion; experiment  of  freezing  a  folution  of  the  blue-vitriol;  iron  and  manganeic 
repelled  in  fpheres,  as  the  nodule  of  flint  cooled ;  circular  ftains  of  marl  in 
falt-mines;  fome  flint  nodales  referable  knots  of  wood  or  roots.  4.  Sand  of 
tie  fea;  its  acid  from  moraffes;  its  bafe  from  (hells.  Chert  or  petroftle*  ftra- 
tificd  in  cooling;  their  colour  and  their  acid  from  fea-animals;  Labradore- 
ftone  from  mother-pearl.  6.  Flints  in  chalk-beds  -,  their  form,  colour,  and 
acid,  from  the  flcfh  of  fea-animals;  fome  are  hollow,  and  lined  with  cryflal.s; 
contain  iron ;  not  produced  by  injection  from  without ;  coralloids  converted 
to  flint;  French  mill-flones;  flints  fometimes  found  in  folid  ftrata.  7.  An- 
gles of  fund  deftroyed  by  attrition  and  folution  in  fleam;  filiceous  breccia  ce- 
mented by  folution  in  red-hot  water.  8.  Bafaltcs  and  granites  are  ancient 
lavas;  bafaltes  raifed  by  its  congelation,  not  by  fubterraneous  fire. 

NOTE  XX. — CI.AY. 

FIRE  and  water  two  g'reat  agents;  {^ratification  from  predpitation ;  many 
ftratified  materials  not  foluble  in  water.  I.  Stratification  of  lava  from  fuc- 
ceffive  accumulation.  2.  Stratifications  of  lime-ftone  from  the  different  pe- 
riods of  time  in  which  the  fhells  were  depoiited.  3.  Stratifications  of  coal, 
and  clay,  and  fand-fcone,  and  iron-ores,  not  from  currents  of  water,  but 
from  the  production  of  morafs-beds,  at  different  periods  of  time;  morafs- 
beds  become  ignited;  their  bitumen  and  fulphur  is  fublimed,  the  clay,  lime, 
and  iron,  remain;  whence  faifd,  marl,  coal,  white  clay  in  valley*,  and  gravel- 


'CONTENTS  OF  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.       251 

beds,  and  fome  ochres,  and  fome  calcareous  depofitions,  owing  to  alluvia- 
tion;  clay  from  decompofed  granite;  from  the  lava  of  Vefuvius;  from  vi- 
treous lavas. 

NOTE  XXI. — ENAMELS. 

ROSE-COLOUR  and  purple  from  gold;  precipitates  of  gold  by  alkaline 
fait  preferable  to  thofe  by  tin;  aurum  fulminans  long  ground;  tender  co- 
lours from  gold  or  iron  not  diffolved,  but  fufpended  in  the  glafs;  cobalts; 
calces  of  cobalt  and  copper  require  a  ftrong  fire ;  Ka-o-lyi  and  Pe-tun-tfe 
the  fame  as  our  own  materials. 

NOTE  XXII. — PORTLAND  VASE, 

ITS  figures  do  not  allude  to  private  hiftory ;  they  reprefent  a  part  of  the 
Eleufinian  myfteries  ;  marriage  of  Cupid  and  Pfyche ;  proceffion  of  torches ; 
the  figures  in  one  compartment  reprefent  MORTAL  LIFE  in  the  adl  of  ex- 
piring, and  HUMANKIND  attending  to  her  with  concern;  Adam  and  Eve 
hieroglyphic  figures;  Abel  and  Cain  other  hieroglyphic  figures:  on  the 
other  compartment  is  reprefented  IMMORTAL  LIFE;  the  Manes,  or  Ghoft, 
defcending  into  Elyfium,  is  led  on  by  DIVINE  LOVE,  and  received  by  IMMOR- 
TAL LIFE,  and  conducted  to  Pluto;  Trees  of  Life  and  Knowledge  are  em- 
blematical: the  figure  at  the  bottom  is  of  Atis,  the  firft  great  Hierophant, 
or  teacher  of  myfteries. 

KOTE  XXIII.— COAL. 

I.  A  FOUNTAIN  of  foffile  tar  in  Shropfhire ;  lias  been  diftflled  from  the 
coal-beds  beneath,  and  condenfed  in  the  cavities  of  a  fand-rock;  the  coal 
beneath  is  deprived  of  its  bitumen  in  part ;  bitumen  fublimed  at  Matlock> 
into  cavities  lined  with  fpar.  a.  Coal  has  been  expofed  to  heat;  woody  fi- 
bres and  vegetable  feeds  in  coal  at  Bovey  and  Polefworth ;  upper  part  of 
coal-beds  more  bituminous  at  Beaudefert;  thin  ftratum  of  afphaltum  near 
Caulk ;  upper  part  of  coal-bed  worfe  at  AJfreton  ;  upper  ftratum  of  no  Va- 
lue at  Widdrington;  alum  at  Weft-Hallum ;  at  Bilfton.  3.  Coal  at  Coal- 
brook-Dale  has  been  immerfed  in  the  fea,  fhewn  by  fea-fhells;  marks  of  vio- 
lence in  the  colliery  at  Mendip  and  at  Ticknal;  lead-ore  and  fpar  in  coal- 
beds;  gravel  over  coal  near  Lichfield;  coal  produced  from  moraffes,  fhewn 
by  fern-leaves,  and  bog-fhells,  and  mufcle-fhells;  by  fome  parts  of  coal  be- 
ing ftill  woody ;  from  Loch  Neagh,  aud  Bovey,  and  the  Temple  of  the  De- 
vil; fired  alkali;  oil. 

NOTE  XXIV.— GRANITR. 

GRANITE  the  lowed  ftratum  of  the  earth  yet  known;  porphyry,  trap, 
moor-ftone,  whin-ftone,  flate,  bafaltes,  all  volcanic  productions  diffolved  in 
red-hot  water;  volcanos  in  granite  ftrata;  differ  from  the  heat  of  moraffes 
from  fermentation;  the  nucleus  of  the  earth  ejected  from  the  fun;  wastkc 
fun  originally  a  planet?  fuppofed  fe&ion  of  the  globe. 


z$z  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

NOTE  XXV. — EVAPORATION. 

I.  I.  SOLUTION  of  water  in  air;  in  the  matter  of  heat;  pulfe-glafs.  a. 
Heat  is  the  principal  caufe  of  evaporation  ;  thermometer  cooled  by  evapo- 
ration of  ether;  heat  given  from  fleam  to  the  worm-tub;  warmth  accom- 
panying rain.  3.  Steam  condenfed  on  the  eduction  of  heat;  moifture  on 
cold  walls;  fouth-weft  and  north-eaft  winds.  4.  Solution  of  fait  and  of  blue 
vitriol  in  the  matter  of  heat.  II.  Other  vapours  may  precipitate  fteam,  and 
form  rain.  I.  Cold  the  principal  caufe  of  devaporation ;  hence  the  fteam  dif- 
folved  in  heat  is  precipitated,  but  that  diffolved  in  air  remains  even  in  frofts  ; 
fouth-weft  wind.  2.  North-eaft  winds  mixing  with  fouth-weft  winds  produce 
rarn;  becaufe  the  cold  particles  of  air  of  the  north-eaft  acquire  fome  of  the 
matter  of  heat  from  the  fouth-weft  winds.  3.  Devaporation  from  me- 
chanical expanfion  of  air ,  as  in  the  receiver  of  an  air-pump  ;  fummer  clauds 
appear  and  vanifh ;  when  the  barometer  finks  without  change  of  wind,  the 
\veather  becomes  colder.  4.  Solution  of  water  in  electric  fluid  dubious. 
5.  Barometer  finks  from  the  leffened  gravity  of  the  air,  and  from  the  rain 
having  lefs  preffure  as  it  falls;  a  mixture  of  a  folution  of  water  in  calo- 
rique,  with  an  aerial  folution  of  water,  is  lighter  than  dry  air ;  breath  of  ani- 
mals in  cold  weather,  why  condenfed  into  vifible  vapour,  and  diffolved 
again. 

NOTE  XXVI.— SPRINGS. 

LOWEST  ftrata  of  the  earth  appear  on  the  higheft  hills;  fprings  from 
dews  Hiding  between  them;  mountains  are  colder  than  plains;  I.  From 
their  being  infulated  in  the  air;  2.  From  their  enlarged  furface ;  3.  From 
the  rarity  of  the  air  it  becomes  a  better  conductor  of  heat;  4.  By  the  air 
on  mountains  being  mechanically  rarefied  as  it  afcends;  5.  Gravitation 
of  the  matter  of  heat;  6.  The  dafhing  of  clouds  againft  hills;  of  fogs 
againft  trees;  fprings  ftrongcr  in  hot  days  with  cold  nights;  ftreams  from 
fubtcrranean  caverns;  from  beneath  the  fnow  on  the  Alps. 

NOTE  XXVII. — SHELL-FISH. 

TH> E  armour  of  the  Echinus  movcable ;  holds  itfelf  in  ftorms  to  ftones, 
by  1 200  or  2CCO  firings:  Nautilus  rows  and  fails;  renders  its  fhell  buoyant: 
Pinna  and  cancer;  EyiTus  of  the  ancients  was  the  beard  of  the  Pinna  ;  as  fine 
as  the  filk  is  fpun  by  the  filk-worm;  gloves  made  of  it;  the  beard  of  muf- 
cles  produces  ficknefs;  Indian-weed;  tendons  of  rats'  tails. 

NOTE  XXVIII. — STURGEON. 

STURGEON'S  mouth  like  a  purfe  ;  without  teeth;  tendrils  like  worms 
hang  before  his  lips,  which  entice  fmall  nfh  and  fea-infects,  miftaking  them 
for  worms;  his  fkin  ufed  for  covering  carriages;  ifinglafs  made  from  it;  ca- 
viare from  the  fpawn. 


CONTENTS  OF  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.      253 


NOTE  XXIX.— OIL  ON  WATER. 

OIL  and  water  do  not  touch;  a  fecond  drop  of  oil  will  not  diffufe  itfelf 
on  the  preceding  one;  hence  it  ftills  the  waves;  divers  for  pearl  carry  oil 
in  their  mouths ;  oil  on  water  produces  prifmatic  colours;  oiled  cork  circu- 
lates on  water;  a  phial  of  oil  and  water  made  to  ofcillate. 

NOTE  XXX.— SHIP-WORM. 

THE  Teredo  has  calcareous  jaws;  a  new  enemy;  they  perifh  when  they 
meet  together  in  their  ligneous  canals;  United  Provinces  alarmed  for  the 
piles  of  the  banks  of  Zealand;  were  deftroyed  by  a  fevere  winter. 

NOTE  XXXI.— MAELSTROM. 

A  WHIRLPOOL  on  the  coaft  of  Norway,  pafles  through  a  fubterraneou* 
cavity;  lefs  violent  when  the  tide  is  up;  eddies  become  hollow  in  the  mid- 
dle; heavy  bodies  are  thrown  out  by  eddies;  light  ones  retained;  oil  and 
•water  whirled  in  a  phial;  hurricanes  explained. 

NOTE  XXXII.— GLACIERS. 

SNOW  in  contact  with  the  earth  is  in  a  ftate  of  thaw;  ice-houfes;  ri- 
vers from  beneath  the  fnow;  rime,  in  fpring,  vanifhes  by  its  contact  with 
the  earth ;  and  fnow  by  its  evaporation  and  contact  with  the  earth ;  mofs 
vegetates  beneath  the  fnow;  and  Alpine  plants  perilh  at  Upfal  for  want 
of  fnow. 

NOTE  XXXIII.— WINDS.      -. .,; 

AIR  is  perpetually  fubject  to  increafe  and  to  diminution ;  Oxygene  is  per- 
petually produced  from  vegetables  in  the  funfnine,  and  from  clouds  in  the 
light,  and  from  water;  Azote  is  perpetually  produced  from  animal  and  ve- 
getable putrefaction,  or  combuftion;  from  fprings  of  water ;  volatile  alkali ; 
fixed  alkali;  fea-water;  they  are  both  perpetually  diminilhed  by  their  con- 
tact with  the  foil,  producing  nitre;  Oxygene  is  diminifhed  in  the  produc- 
tion of  all  acids  ;  Azote  by  the  growth  of  animal  bodies;  charcoal  in  burn- 
ing confumes  double  its  weight  of  pure  air;  every  barrel  of  red-lead  ab- 
forbs  2000  cubic  feet  of  vital  air;  air  obtained  from  variety  of  fubftances 
by  Dr.  Prieftley ;  Officina  aeris  in  the  polar  circle,  and  at  the  line.  South- 
ivtjl  'winds-  their  wefterly  direction  from  the  lefs  velocity  of  the  earth's  fur- 
face;  the  contrary  in  refpect  to  north-eaft  winds;  South-weft  winds  confifl 
of  regions  of  air  from  the  fouth ;  and  north-eaft  winds  of  regions  of  air 
from  the  north;  when  the  fouth- weft  prevails  for  weeks,  and  the  barometer 
finks  to  28,  what  becomes  of  above  one  fifteenth  part  of  the  atmofphere?  I. 
It  is  not  carried  back  by  fuperior  currents;  a.  Not  from  its  lofs  of  moifture; 


254  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

3.  Not  carried  over  the  pole  ;  4.  Not  owing  to  atmofpheric  tides  or  moun- 
tains; 5.  It  is  abforbed  at  the  polar  circle;  hence  fouth-weft  winds  and  rain; 
fouth-weft  fometimes  cold.  North-eajl  ivinds  confift  of  air  from  the  north ; 
cold  by  the  evaporation  of  ice;  are  dry  winds;  I.  Not  fupplied  by  fuperior 
currents;  2.  The  whole  atmofphere  increafed  in  quantity  by  air  fet  at  liberty 
from  its  combinations  in  the  polar  circles.  Soutb-eaft  winds  confift  of  north 
winds  driven  back.  North-tvejl  ivinds  confift  of  fouth-weft  winds  driven 
back;  north- weft  winds  of  America  bring  froft;  owing  to  a  vertical  fpiral 
eddy  of  air  between  the  eafttrn  coaft  and  the  Apalachian  mountains ;  hence 
the  greater  cold  of  North- America.  Trade-winds ;  air  over  the  line  always 
hotter  than  at  the  tropics;  trade-winds  gain  their  eafterly  direction  from 
the  greater  velocity  of  the  earth's  furface  at  the  line;  not  fupplied  by  fu- 
perior currents;  fupplied  by  dccompofed  water  in  the  fun's  great  light;  I. 
Becaufe  there  are  no  conftant  rains  in  the  tra&  of  the  trade-winds;  2.  Be- 
caufe  there  is  no  condcnfible  vapour  above  three  or  four  miles  high  at  the  line. 
Monfcons  and  Tornadoes ;  fome  places  at  the  tropic  become  warmer  when  the 
fun  is  vertical  than  at  the  line;  hence  the  air  afcends,  fupplied  on  one  fide 
by  the  north-eaft  winds,  and  on  the  other  by  the  fouth-weft;  whence  an 
afcending  eddy  or  tornado,  railing  water  from  the  fea,  or  fand  from  the  defert, 
and  inceffant  rains;  air  diminilhed  to  the  northward  produces  fouth-weft 
•winds;  tornadoes  from  heavier  air  above  finking  through  lighter  air  below, 
which  rifes  through  a  perforation;  hence  trees  are  thrown  down  in  a  narrow 
line  of  twenty  or  forty  yards  broad,  the  fea  rifes  like  a  cone,  with  great  rain 
and  lightning.  Land  and  fea  breezes ;  fea  lefs  heated  than  land;  tropical 
iffands  more  heated  in  the  day  than  the  fea,  and  are  cooled  more  in  the 
night.  Concliifion ;  irregular  winds  from  other  caufes ;  only  two  original 
winds,  north  and  fouth  ;  different  founds  of  north-eaft  and  fouth-weft  winds; 
a  Bear  or  Dragon  in  the  ar6lic  circle  that  fwallows  at  times,  and  difem- 
bogues  again,  above  one  fifteenth  part  of  the  atmofphere;  wind-inftrumentsj 
recapitulation. 

NOTE  XXXIV. — VEGETABLE  PERSPIRATION. 

PURE  air  from  Dr.  PriefUey's  vegetable  matter,  and  from  vegetable 
leaves,  owing  to  decompofition  of  water;  the  hydrogene  retained  by  the 
vegetables;  plants  in  the  fhade  arc  tanned  green  by  the  fun's  light;  animnl 
flcins  are  tanned  yellow  by  the  retention  of  hydrogene  ;  much  pure  air  from 
dew  on  a  funny  morning;  bleaching,  why  fooner  performed  on  cotton  than 
linen;  bees  wax  bleached;  metals  calcined  by  decompofition  of  water;  oil 
bleached  in  the  light  becomes  yellow  again  in  the  dark;  nitrous  acid  co- 
loured by  being  expofed  to  the  fun;  vegetables  perfpire  more  than  animals, 
hence  in  the  funfhine  they  purify  air  more  by  their  peripiration  than  they 
injure  it  by  their  refpiration ;  they  grow  faftfcft  in  their  fleep. 


CONTENTS  OF  ADDITIONAL  NOTES.        255 

NOTE  XXXV. — VEGETABLE  PLACENTATION. 

BUDS  the  viviparous  offspring  of  vegetables;  ptacentation  in  bulbs  and 
feeds;  placentation  of  buds  in  the  roots,  hence  the  riling  of  fap  in  the  fpring, 
as  in  vines,  birth,  which  ceafes  as  foon  as  the  leaves  expand;  produ&ion  of 
the  leaf  of  Horferchefnut,  and  of  its  new  bud;  oil  of  vitriol  on  the  bud  of 
Mimofa  killed  the  leaf  alfo ;  placentation  ftiewn  from  the  fweetnefs  of  the 
fap;  no  umbilical  artery  in  vegetables. 

NOTE  XXXVI. — VEGETABLE  CIRCULATION. 

BUDS  fet  in  the  ground  will  grow  if  prevented  from  bleeding  to  death  by 
a  cement;  vegetables  require-no  mufcles  of  locomotion,  no  ftomach  or  bow- 
els, no  general  fyftem  of  veins ;  they  have,  I.  Three  fyftems  of  abforbent 
veflels;  1.  Two  pulmonary  fyftems;  3.  Arterial  fyftems;  4.  Glands;  5. 
Organs  of  reproduction ;  6.  mufcles.  I.  Abforbent  fyftem  evinced  by  experi- 
ments by  coloured  abforptions  in  fig-tree  and  picris ;  called  air-veffels  erro- 
neoufly;  fpiral  ftrudlure  of  abforbent  veffels ;  retrograde  motion  of  them 
like  the  throats  of  cows.  II.  Pulmonary  arteries  iu  the  leaves ;  and  pul- 
monary veins;  no  general  fyftem  of  veins  fliewn  by  experiment;  no  heart; 
the  arteries  a6t  like  the  vena  portarum  of  the  liver;  pulmonary  fyftem  in 
the  petals  of  flowers ;  circulation  owing  to  living  irritability ;  vegetable  ab- 
forption  more  powerful  than  animal,  as  in  vines;  not  by  capillary  attraction. 

NOTE  XXXVII. — VEGETABLE  RESPIRATION. 

I.  LEAVES  not  perfpiratory  organs,  nor  excretory  ones;  lungs  of  animals. 

I.  Great   fur  faces  of  leaves.     2.    Vegetable  blood  changes  colour  in  the 
leaves;  experiment  with  fpurge ;  with  picris.     3.  Upper  furface  of"~the leaf 
only  ads  as  a  refpiratory  organ.     4.  Upper  furface  repels  moifture ;  leaves 
laid  on  water.    5.  Leaves  killed  by  oil  like  infecls;  mufcies  at  the  foot-ftalks 
of  leaves.     6.  Ufe  of  light  to  vegetable   leaves ;  experiments  of  Prieftley, 
Ingenhouz,  and  Scheele.     7.  Vegetable  circulation  Cmilar  to  that  of  fifh. 

II,  Another  pulmonary  fyftem  belongs  to  flowers;  colours  of  flowers.     I. 
Vafcular   ftructure   of  the   corol.     ^.  Glands  producing  honey,  wax,  &c. 
perifli  with  the  corol.     3.  Many  flowers  have  no  green  leaves  attending 
them,  as  Colchicum.     4.  Corols  not  for  the  defence  of  the  ftamens.     5.  Co- 
rol of  Helleborus  Niger  changes  to  a  calyx.     6.  Green  leaves  not  neceffary 
to  the  fruit-bud ;  green  leaves  of  Colchicum  belong  to  the  new  bulb,  not  to 
the  flower.     7.  Flower-bud  after  the  corol  falls  is  fimply  an  uterus;  mature 
flowers  not  injured  by  taking  off  the  green  leaves.    8.  Inofculation  of  vege- 
table veflels. 

NOTK   XXXVIII. VtGETABLE    IMPREGNATION. 

SEEDS  in  broom  difcovered  twenty  days  before  the  flower  opens;  pro- 
grefs  of  the  feed$  after  impregnation ;  feed*  «x&  before  fecundation ;  analo- 


256  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  I. 

gy  between  feeds  and  eggs ;  progrefs  of  the  egg  within  the  hen ;  fpawn  of 
frogs  and  fifties  ;  male  Salamander ;  marine  plants  project  a  liquor,  not  a 
powder ;  feminal  fluid  diluted  with  water,  if  a  ftimulus  only  ?  Male  and  fe- 
male influence  neceffary  in  animals,  infects,  and  vegetables,  both  in  produc- 
tion of  feeds  and  buds;  does  the  embryon  feed  produce  the  furrounding 
fruit,  like  infects  in  gall-nuts  ? 

NOTE  XXXIX. — VEGETABLE  GLANDULATION. 

VEGETABLE  glands  cannot  be  injected  with  coloured  fluids;  efiential 
oil;  wax;  honey;  nectary,  its  complicate  apparatus;  expofes  the  honey  to 
the  air  like  the  lachrymal  gland ;  honey  is  nutritious ;  the  male  and  female 
parts  of  flowers  copulate  and  die  like  moths  and  butterflies,  and  are  fed  like 
them  with  honey;  anthers  fuppofed  to  become  infects;  depredation  of  the 
honey  and  wax  injurious  to  plants ;  honey-dew;  honey  oxygenated  by  expo- 
fure  to  air ;  neceffary  for  the  production  of  fenfibility  ;  the  provifion  for  the 
embryon  plant  of  honey,  fugar,  ftarch,  &c.  fupplies  food  to  numerous  claf- 
fes  of  animals;  various  vegetable  fecretions,  as  gum  tragacanth,  camphor, 
elemi,  anime,  turpentine,  balfam  of  Mecca,  aloe,  myrrh,  elaftic  refm,  manna, 
fugar,  wax,  tallow,  and  many  other  concrete  juices;  vegetable  digeflion; 
chemical  production  of  fugar  would  multiply  mankind;  economy  of  nature. 


END  OF  PART  I. 


THE 

BOTANIC  GARDEN, 

PART     II. 


CONTAINING 


THE  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS. 
A  POEM. 

WITH 

PHILOSOPHICAL  NOTES. 


Vivunt  in  Venerem  frondes;  nemus  omne  per  altum 

Felix  arbor  amat ;  nutant  ad  mutua  Palmas 

Fcedera,  Populeo  fufpirat  Populus  i6tu, 

Et  Platani  Platanis,  Alnoque  aflibilat  Alnus.         CLAOD.  EPITH, 


The  first  American^  from  the  fourth  London  Edition. 


NEW-YORK: 

Printed  by  T.  &  J.  SWORDS,  Printers  to  the  Faculty  of  Phyfic 
of  Columbia  College,  No.  99  Pearl-ftrect, 

I798. 


PREFACE. 


JLlNN^EUS  has  divided  the  vegetable  world  into  24  Claf- 
fes;  thefe  Clafles  into  about  12®  Orders;  thefe  Orders  con- 
tain about  2000  Families,  or  Genera;  and  thefe  Families 
about  20,000  Species;  befides  the  innumerable  Varieties, 
which  the  accidents  of  climate  or  -.cultivation  have  added  to 
thefe  Species. 

* *  The  Clafles  are  diflinguifhed  from  each  other  in  this  inge- 
nious fyftem,  by  the  number,  fituation,  adhefion,  or  recipro- 
cal proportion  of  the  males  in  each  flower.  The  Orders,  in 
many  of  thefe  Clafles,  are  diflinguiihed  by  the  number,  or 
other  circumflances  of  the  females.  The  Families,  or  Ge- 
nera, are  characterized  by  the  analogy  of  all  the  parts  of  the 
flower  or  fructification.  The  Species  are  diflinguifhed  by 
the  foliage  of  the  plant;  and  the  Varieties  by  any  accidental 
circumftance  of  colour,  tafte,  or  odour ;  the  fee^ls  of  thefe 
do  not  always  produce  plants  flmilar  to  the  parent ;  as  in  our 
numerous  fruit-trees  and  garden  flowers ;  which  are  propagat- 
ed by  grafts  or  layers..  5  >•  • 

The  firft  eleven  Clafles  include  the  plants,  in  whofe  flow- 
ers b€)th  the  £e*es  refide ;  and  in  which  the  Males  or  Stamens 
are  -neither  united,  nor  unequal  in  height  when  at  maturity; 
and  are,  therefore,  diftinguifhed  from  each  other  fimply  by  the 
number  of  males  in  each  flower,  as  is  feen  in  the  annexed 
PLATE,  copied  from  the  Di&ionaire  Botanique  of  M.  BUL- 
LIARD,  in  which  the  numbers  of  each  divifion  refer  to  the 
Botanic  Claries. 

CLASS  I.    ONE  MALE,  Monandria\  includes  the  plants 
which  poflefs  but  One  Stamen  in  each  flower. 
II.     Two  MALES,  Dlandria.     Two  Stamens, 


iv  PREFACE. 

III.  THREE  MALES,  Triandria.     Three  Stamens. 

IV.  FOUR  MALES,  Tetrandria.     Four  Stamens. 

V.  iFivE  MALES,  Petandria.     Five  Stamens. 

VI.  Six  MALES,   Hexandria.     Six  Stamens. 

VIF.  SEVEN  MALES,  Heptandria.     Seven  Stamens. 

VIII.  EIGHT  MALES,   Oftandria.     Eight  Stamens. 

IX.  NINE  MALES,  Enneandria.     Nine  Stamens. 

X.  TEN  MALES,  Decandria.     Ten  Stamens. 

XL    TWELVE  MALES,  Dodecandria.  Twelve  Stamens. 

The  next  two  Gaffes  are  diftinguifhed  not  only  by  the 
number  of  equal  and  difunited  males,  as  in  the  above  eleven 
Clafles,  but  require  an  additional  circumftance  to  be  attended 
to,  viz.  whether  the  males  or  ftamens  be  fituated  on  the  ca- 
lyx, or  not 

XII.  TWENTY  MALES,  Icofandrla.     Twenty  Stamens 
inserted  on  the  calyx,   or  flower-cup ;  as  is  well  feen  in  the 
laft  Figure  of  No.  xii.  in  the  annexed  Plate. 

XIII.  MANY   MALES,   Polyandria.     From   20  to  100 
Stamens,  which  do  not  adhere  to  the  calyx ;  as  is  well  feen 
in  the  firft  figure  of  No.  xiii.  in  the  annexed  Plate. 

In  the  next  two  Claries,  not  only  the  number  of  ftamens 
are  to  be  obferved,  but  the  reciprocal  proportions  in  refpecl: 
to  height. 

XIV.  Two  POWERS,  Didynamia.      Four  Stamens,  of* 
which  two  are  lower  than  the  other  two ;  as  is  feen  in  the 
two  firft  Figures  of  No.  xiv. 

XV.  FOUR  POWERS,   Tetr adynamia.     Six  Stamens,  of 
which  four  are  taller,  and  the  two  lower  ones  oppofite  to  each 
other ;   as  is  feen  in  the  third  Figure  of  the  upper  row,  in 
No.  xv. 

The  five  fubfequcnt  ClafTes  are  diftinguiflied  not  by  the  num- 
ber of  the  males,  or  ftamens,  but  by  their  union  or  adhefion, 
either  by  their  anthers  or  filaments,  or  to  the  female,  or  piftil. 

XVI.  ONE  BROTHERHOOD,  Monadclphia.    Many  Sta- 
mens united  by  their  filaments  into  one  company;  as  in  the 
fecond  Figure  below  of  No.  xvi. 


PREFACE.  v 

XVII.  Two  BROTHERHOODS,  Diadelphia.  Many  Sta- 
mens united  by  their  filaments  into  two  companies ;  as  in  the 
uppermoft  Figure,   No.  xvii. 

XVIII.  MANY  BROTHERHOODS,  Polyadelphla.    Many 
Stamens  united  by  their  filaments  into  three  or  more  compa- 
nies; as  in  No.  xviii. 

XIX.  CONFEDERATE  MALES,  Syngene/ia.    Many  Sta- 
mens united  by  their  anthers ;  as  in  the  firft  and  fecond  Fi- 
gures, No.  xix. 

XX.  FEMININE  MALES,  Gynandria.     Many  Stamens 
attached  to  the  piftil. 

The  next  three  Claffes  confift  of  plants,  whofe  flowers  con- 
tain but  one  of  the  fexes;  or  if  fome  of  them  contain  both 
fexes,  there  are  other  flowers  accompanying  them  of  but 
one  fex. 

XXI.  ONE  HOUSE,  Moncecia.     Male  flowers  and  fe- 
male flowers  feparate,  but  on  the  fame  plant. 

XXII.  Two  HOUSES,  Dioecia.     Male  flowers  and  fe- 
male flowers  feparate,  on  different  plants. 

XXIII.  POLYGAMY,  Polygamia.    Male  and  female  flow- 
ers on  one  or  more  plants,  which  have,  at  the  fame  time, 
flowers  of  both  fexes. 

The  laft  Clafs  contains  the  plants  whofe  flowers  are  not 
difcernible. 

XXIV.  CLANDESTINE  MARRIAGE,  Cryptogamla. 

The  Orders  of  the  firft  thirteen  ClafTes  are  founded  on  the 
number  of  Females,  or  Piftils,  and  diftinguifhed  by  the  names, 
ONE  FEMALE,  Monogynia.  Two  FEMALES,  Digynia. 
THREE  FEMALES,  Trigynia,  &c.  as  is  feen  in  No.  i. 
which  reprefents  a  plant  of  one  male,  one  female;  and  in  the 
firft  Figure  of  No.  xi.  which  reprefents  a  flower  with  twelve 
males,  and  three  females ;  (for,  where  the  piftils  have  no  ap- 
parent ftyles,  the  fummits,  or  ftigmas,  are  to  be  numbered,) 
and  in  the  firft  Figure  of  No.  xii.  which  reprefents  a  flower 
with  twenty  males,  and  many  females ;  and  in  the  laft  Figure 
of  the  fame  No.  which  has  twenty  males,  and  one  female; 


vl  P  R  E  F  A  C  E. 

and  in  No.  xiii.  which  reprefents  a  flower  with  many  males, 
and  many  females. 

The  Clafs  of  Two  POWERS,  is  divided  into  two  natural 
Orders;  into  fuch  as  have  their  feeds  naked  at  the  bottom  of 
the  calyx,  or  flower-cup;  and  fuch  as  have  their  feeds  co-s 
vered;  as  is  feen  in  No.  xiv.  Fig.  3  and  5. 

The  Clafs  of  FOUR  POWERS,  is  divided  alfo  into  two 
Orders;  in  one  of  thefe  the  feeds  are  inclofed  in  a  filicule,  as 
in  Shepherd's  purfc,  No.  xv.  Fig.  5.  In  the  other  they 
are  inclofed  in  a  iilique ;  as  in  Wall-flower,  Fig.  4. 

In  all  the  other  Claffes,  excepting  the  Clafles  Confederate 
Males  and  Clandeftine  Marriage,  as  the  character  of  each 
Clafs  is  diflinguifhed  by  the  lltuations  of  the  males ;  the  cha- 
racter of  the  Orders  is  marked  by  the  numbers  of  them.  In 
the  Clafs  ONE  BROTHERHOOD*  Nek  xvi.  Fig.  3.  the  Ordetf 
of  ten  males  is  reprefented.  And  in  the  Clafs  Two  BRO- 
THERHOODS, No.  xvii.  Fig.  2.  the  Order  of  ten  males  is 
reprefented. 

In  the  Clafs  CONFEDERATE  MALES,  the  Orders  are 
chiefly  diftinguifhed  by  the  fertility  or  barrennefs  of  the  flo- 
rets of  the  difk,  or  ray  of  the  compound  flower. 

And  in  the  Clafs  of  CLANDESTINE  MARRIAGE,  the 
four  Orders  are  termed  FERNS,  MOSSES,  FLAGS,  and  FUN- 
GUSSES. 

The  Orders  are  again  divided  into  Genera,  or  Families, 
which  are  all  natural  aflbciations,  and  are  defcribed  from  the 
general  refemblances  of  the  parts  of  fructification,  in  refpect 
to  their  number,  form,  fituation,  and  reciprocal  proportion. 
Thefe  are  the  Calyx,  or  Flower-cup;  as  feen  in  No.  iv. 
Fig.  i.  No.  x.  Fig.  i,  and  3.  No.  xiv.  Fig.  i,  2,  3,  4.  Se- 
cond, the  Corol,  or  Bloflbm ;  as  feen  in  No.  i.  ii.  &c. 
Third,  the  Males,  or  Stamens;  as  in  No.  iv.  Fig.  i.  and 
No.  viii.  Fig.  i.  Fourth,  the  Females  or  Piftils  ;  as  in  No.  i. 


PREFACE.  vii 

No.  xii.  Fig.  I.  No.  xiv.  Fig.  3.  No.  xv.  Fig.  3.  Fifth, 
the  Pericarp,  or  Fruit-veflel ;  as  in  No.  xv.  Fig.  4,  5.  No. 
xvii.  Fig.  2.  Sixth,  the  Seeds. 

The  illuftrious  author  of  the  Sexual  Syftem  of  Botany,  in 
his  preface  to  his  account  of  the  Natural  Orders,  ingenioufly 
imagines,  that  one  plant  of  each  Natural  Order  was  created 
in  the  beginning;  and  that  the  intermarriages  of  thefe  pro- 
duced one  plant  of  every  Genus,  or  Family ;  and  that  the  in- 
termarriages of  thefe  Generic,  or  Family  plants,  produced  all 
the  fpecies :  and,  laftly,  that  the  intermarriages  of  the  indi- 
viduals of  the  fpecies  produced  the  Varieties. 

In  the  following  POEM,  the  name  or  number  of  the  Clafs 
or  Order  .of  each  plant  is  printed  in  Italics,  as  "  Two  bro- 
ther f  wains."  "  One  houfe  contains  them;"  and  the  word 
"  fecret"  expreflfes  the  clafs  of  Clandeftine  Marriage. 

The  Reader  who  wi flies  to  become  further  acquainted  with 
this  delightful  field  of  fcience,  is  advifed  to  fludy  the  works 
of  the  Great  Matter,  and  is  apprized  that  they  are  exactly 
and  literally  tranflated  into  Englifli,  by  a  Society  at  LICH- 
FIELD,  in  four  Volumes  O6lavo. 

To  the  SYSTEM  OF  VEGETABLES  is  prefixed  a  co- 
pious explanation  of  all  the  Terms  ufed  in  Botany,  tranflated 
from  a  thefis  of  Dr.  ELMSGREEN,  with  the  plates  and  re- 
ferences from  the  Philofophia  Botannica  of  LINNAEUS. 

To  the  FAMILIES  OF  PLANTS  is  prefixed  a  Cata- 
logue of  the  names  of  plants,  and  other  Botanic  Terms,  care- 
fully accented,  to  (hew  their  proper  pronunciation ;  a  work 
of  great  labour,  and  which  was  much  wanted,  not  only  by 
beginners,  but  by  proficients  in  BOTANY. 


PROEM. 


GENTLE  READER! 

,  here  a  CAMERA  OBSCUR A  is  prefented  to  thy 
view,  in  which  are  lights  and  ihades  dancing  on  a 
whited  canvas,  and  magnified  into  apparent  life ! — 
If  thou  art  perfectly  at  leifure  for  fuch  trivial  amufe- 
ment,  walk  in,  and  view  the  wonders  of  my  IN- 
CHANTED  GARDEN. 

Whereas  P.  OVIDIUS  NASO,  a  great  Necro- 
mancer in  the  famous  Court  of  AUGUSTUS  CAESAR, 
did,  by  art  poetic,  tranfmute  Men,  Women,  and 
even  Gods  and  GoddeiTes,  into  Trees  and  Flowers; 
I  have  undertaken,  by  fimilar  art,  to  reftore  fome  of 
them  to  their  original  animality,  after  having  re- 
mained prifoners  fo  long  in  their  refpeclive  vegeta- 
ble manfions ;  and  have  here'  exhibited  them  before 
thee.  Which  thou  may'ft  contemplate  as  diverfe 
little  pi&ures,  fufpended  over  the  chimney  of  a 

PART  II.  B 


Lady's  drefiing  room,  connected  only  by  a  flight  fef- 
toon  of  ribbons.  And  which,  though  thou  may 'ft 
not  be  acquainted  with  the  originals,  may  amufe 
thee  by  the  beauty  of  their  perfons,  their  graceful 
attitudes,  or  the  brilliancy  of  their  drefs. 

FAREWELL. 


JII.XM 


I  AX 


r  t 


L_ 


. 


THE 

f   •   BOTANIC  GARDEN.       '•  ;V 

LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS. 
CANTO  I. 

JL/ESCEND,  ye  hovering  Sylphs!  aerial  Quires, 
Aftd  fweep  with  little  hands  your  filver  lyres ; 
With  fairy  footfteps  print  your  grafly  rings, 
Ye  Gnomes  !  accordant  to  the  tinkling  firings : 
While  in  foft  notes  I  tune  to  oaten  reed  5 

Gay  hopes,  and  amorous  forrows  of  the  mead. — 
From  giant  Oaks,  that  wave  their  branches  dark, 
To  the  dwarf  Mofs  that  clings  upon  their  bark, 
What  Beaux  and  Beauties  crowd  the  gaudy  groves, 
•And  woo  and  win  their  vegetable  Loves.  10 

How  Snow-drops  cold,  and  blue-eyed  Harebels  blend 
Their  tender  tears,  as  o'er  the  ftream  they  bend ; 
The  love-fick  Violet,  and  the  Primrofe  pale, 
Bow  their  fweet  heads,  and  whifper  to  the  gale ; 
With  fecret  fighs  the  Virgin  Lily  droops,  15 

And  jealous  Cowflips  hang  their  tawny  cups. 
How  the  young  Rofe,  in  beauty's  damafk  pride, 
Drinks  the  warm  blufhes  of  his  bafhful  bride; 
With  honey'd  lips  enamoured  Woodbines  meet, 
Clafp  with  fond  arms,  and  mix  their  kifles  fweet. —  20 


Vegetable  Loves.  1.  io.  Linnaeus,  the  celebrated  Swedifli  naturalift,  has 
demonftrated,  that  all  flowers  contain  families  of  males  or  females,  or  both; 
and  on  their  marriages  has  conihu&ed  his  invaluable  fyftem  of  Botany. 


t»  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

Stay  thy  foft-murmuring  waters,  gentle  Rill; 
Hufh,  whifpering  Winds ;  ye  ruftling  Leaves  be  flill ; 
Reft,  filver  Butterflies,  your  quivering  wings ; 
Alight,  ye  Beetles,  from  your  airy  rings ; 
Ye  painted  Moths,  your  gold-eyed  plumage  furl,  25 

Bow  your  wide  horns,  your  fpiral  trunks  uncurl ; 
Glitter,  ye  Glow-worms,  on  your  mody  beds ; 
Defcend,  ye  Spiders,  on  your  lengthened  threads ; 
Slide  here,  ye  horned  Snails,  with  varnifti'd  fhells ; 
Ye  Bee -nymphs,  liften  in  your  waxen  cells !  3Q 

BOTANIC  MUSE !  who,  in  this  latter  age, 
Led  by  your  airy  hand  the  Swedifh  fage, 
Bade  his  keen  eye  your  fecret  haunts  explore 
On  dewy  dell,  high  wood,  and  winding  ihore ; 
Say  on  each  leaf  how  tiny  graces  dwell ;  3£ 

How  laugh  the  Pleafures  in  a  blofTorrTs  bell ; 
How  infecl:  Loves  arife  on  cobweb  wings, 
Aim  their  light  fliafts,  and  point  their  little  flings. 

"  Firft  the  tall  CANNA  lifts  his  curled  brow 
Ere£t  to  heaven,  and  plights  his  nuptial  vow ;  40 

The  virtuous  pair,  in  milder  regions  born, 
Dread  the  rude  blaft  of  Autumn's  icy  morn ; 
Round  the  chill  fair  he  folds  his  crimfon  veft, 
And  clafps  the  timorous  beauty  to  his  breaft. 

Thy  love  CALLITRICHE,  two  Virgins  {hare,  45 

Smit  with  thy  ftarry  eye  and  radiant  hair ; — 
On  the  green  margin  fits  the  youth,  and  laves 
His  floating  train  of  tre^fles  in  the  waves; 

Canna.  1.  39.  Cane,  or  Indian  Reed.  One  male  and  one  female  Inhabit 
each  flower.  It  is  brought  from  between  the  tropics  to  our  hot-houfes,  and 
bears  a  beautiful  crimfon  flower;  the  feeds  are  ufed  as  fhot  by  the  Indians, 
and  are  ftrung  for  prayer-beads  in  fome  catholic  countries. 

Callltrlcle.  1.  45.  Fine-Hair,  Stargrafs.  One  male  and  two  females  inha- 
bit each  flower.  The  upper  leaves  grow  in  form  of  a  ftar,  whence  it  is  call- 
ed Stellaria  Aquatica  by  Ray  and  others;  its  ftems  and  leaves  float  far  on  the 
xvater,  and  are  often  fo  matted  together,  as  to  bear,  a  perfon  walking  on 
them.  The  male  fometimes  lives  in  a  ieparate  flower. 


CANTO  I.          LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  13 

Sees  his  fair  features  paint  the  ftreams  that  pafs, 

And  bends  for  ever  o'er  the  watery  glafs.  50 

Two  brother  fwains,  of  COLLIN'S  gentle  name, 
The  fame  their  features,  and  their  forms  the  fame, 
With  rival  love  for  fair  COLLINIA  figh, 
Knit  the  dark  brow,  and  roll  the  unfteady  eye. 
With  fweet  concern  the  pitying  beauty  mourns,  $$ 

And  fooths  with  fmiles  the  jealous  pair  by  turns. 

Sweet  blooms  GENISTA  in  the  myrtle  fhade, 
And  ten  fond  brothers  woo  the  haughty  maid. 
Two  knights  before  thy  fragrant  altar  bend, 
Adored  MELISSA  !  and  two  fquires  attend.  6q 

Collinfonia.  1.  51.  Two  males,  one  female.  I  Tiave  lately  obferved  a 
very  fingular  circumftance  in  this  flower;  the  two  males  ftand  widely  di- 
verging from  each  other,  and  the  female  bends  herfelf  into  contact  firft  with 
one  of  them,  and  after  fome  time  leaves  this,  and  applies  herfelf  to  the  other. 
It  is  probable  one  of  the  anthers  may  be  mature  before  the  other.  See  note 
on  Gloriofa  and  Genifta.  The  females  in  Nigella,  devil  in  the  bufh,  are 
very  tall  compared  to  the  males;  and  bending  over  in  a  circle  to  them, 
give  the  flower  fome  refemblance  to  a  regal  crown.  The  female  of  the  Epi- 
lobium  Auguftifolium,  rofe  bay  willow  herb,  bends  down  amongft  the 
males  for  feveral  days,  and  becomes  upright  again  when  impregnated. 

Genijla.  1.  57.  Dyer's  broom.  Ten  males  and  one  female  inhabit  this 
flower.  The  males  are  generally  united  at  the  bottom  in  two  fets,  whence  Lin- 
nseus  has  named  the  clafs  "  two  brotherhoods."  Tn  the  Genifta,  however, 
they  are  united  in  but  one  fet.  The  flowers  of  this  clafs  are  called  papilio- 
naceous, from  their  refemblance  to  a  butterfly,  as  a  pea-bloffom.  In  the 
Spartium  Scoparium,  or  common  broom,  I  have  lately  obferved  a  curious 
circumftance ;  the  males,  or  ftamens,  are  in  two  fets,  one  fet  rifing  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  above  the  other;  the  upper  fet  does  noc  arrive  at  their  ma- 
turity fo  foon  as  the  lower,  and  the  ftigma,  or  head  of  the  female,  is  produc- 
ed amongft  the  upper  or  immature  fet ;  but  as  foon  as  the  piftil  grows  tall 
enough  to  burft  open  the  keel-leaf,  or  hood  of  the  flower,  it  bends  itfelf 
round  in  an  inftant,  like  a  French  horn,  and  inferts  its  head,  or  ftigma, 
amongft  the  lower  or  mature  fet  of  males.  The  piftil,  or  female,  continues 
to  grow  in  length;  and  in  a  few  days  the  ftigma  arrives  again  amongft  the 
upper  fet,  by  the  time  they  become  mature.  This  wonderful  contrivance 
is  readily  feen  by  opening  the  keel-leaf  of  the  flowers  of  broom  before  they 
burft  fpontaneoufly.  See  note  on  Collinfonia,  Gloriofa,  Draba. 

Mclijj'a.  \.  60.  Balm.  In  each  flower  there  are  four  males  and  one  fe- 
male; two  of  the  males  ftand  higher  than  the  other  two;  whence  the  name 
of  the  clafs  "  two  powers."  I  have  obferved  in  the  Ballota,  and  others  of 
this  clafs,  that  the  two  lower  ftamens,  or  males,  become  mature  before  the 
two  higher.  After  they  have  flied  their  duft,  they  turn  themfelves  away 
outwards;  and  the  piftil,  or  female,  continuing  to  grow  a  little  taller,  is  ap- 
plied to  the  upper  ftamens.  See  Gloriofa  and  Genifta. 


14  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  R,. 

MEADIA'S  foft  chains  five  fuppliant  beaux  confefs, 
And,  hand  in  hand,  the  laughing  belle  addrefs ; 
Alike  to  all,  fhe  bows  with  wanton  air, 
Rolls  her  dark  eye,  and  waves  her  golden  hair. 

Woo'd  with  long  care,  CURCUMA,  cold  and  fhy,  65 
Meets  her  fond  hufband  with  averted  eye  : 

All  the  plants  of  this  clafs,  which  have  naked  feeds,  are  aromatic.  The 
Marum,  and  Nepeta  are  particularly  delightful  to  cats;  no  other  brute  ani-. 
mals  feem  delighted  with  any  odours  but  thofe  of  their  food  or  prey. 

Meadia.  1.  6r.  Dodecatheon,  American  Cowflip.  Five  males  and  one  fer 
male.  The  males,  or  anthers,  touch  each  other.  The  uncommon  beauty 
of  this  flower  occafioned  Linnaeus  to  give  it  a  name  fignifying  the  twelve 
heathen  gods;  and  Dr.  Mead  to  affix  his  own  name  to  it.  The  piftil  is 
much  longer  than  the  ftamens ;  hence  the  flower-ftalks  have  their  elegant 
Bend,  that  the  ftigma  may  hang  downwards  to  receive  the  fecundating  duft 
of  the  anthers.  And  the  petals  ate  fo  beautifully  turned  back  to  prevent 
the  rain  or  dew-drops  from  Hiding  down  and  wafhing  off  this  duft  prema- 
turely; and  at  the  lame  time  expofing  it  to  the  light  and  air.  As  foon  as 
the  feeds  are  formed,  it  erects  all  the  flower-ftalks  to  prevent  them  from 
falling  out,  and  thus  lofes  the  beauty  of  its  figure.  Is  this  a  mechanical  ef- 
fe<5t,  or  does  it  indicate  a  vegetable  ftorge  to  preferve  its  offspring?  See  note, 
on  Ilex,  and  Gloriofa. 

In  the  Meadia,  the  Borago,  Cyclamen,  Solanum,  and  many  others,  the 
filaments  are  very  fhort  compared  with  the  ftyle.  Herice  it  became  ne- 
ceffary,  ift.  To  furnifh  the  ftamens  with  long  anthers,  ad.  To  lengthen  and 
bend  the  peduncle  or  flovver-ftalk,  that  the  flower  might  hang  downwards. 
3d.  To  refleA  the  petals.  4th.  To  ercA  thefe  peduncles  when  the  germ 
was  fecundated.  We  may  reafon  upon  this  by  obferving,  that  all  this  appa- 
ratus might  have  been  fpared,  if  the  filaments  alone  bad  grown  longer;  and 
that  thence,  in  thefe  flowers,  that  the  filaments  are  the.moft  unchangeable 
parts;  and  that  thence  their  comparative  length,  in  refpedt  to  the  ftyle, 
would  afford  a  moft  permanent  mark  of  their  generic  character. 

Curcuma.  1.  65.  Turmeric.  One  male  and  one  female  inhabit  this  flower; 
but  there  are  befides  four  imperfect  males,  or  filaments,  without  anthers 
upon  them,  called  by  Linnaeus  eunuchs.  The  flax  of  our  country  has  ten 
filaments,  and  but  five  of  them  are  terminated  with  anthers;  the  Portugal 
flax  has  ten  perfe&  males,  or  ftamens;  the  Verbena  of  our  country  has  four 
males;  that  of  Sweden  has  but  two;  the  genus  Albuca,  the  Bignonia  Ca- 
talpa,  Gratiola,  and  hemlock-leaved  Geranium,  have  only  half  their  fila- 
ments crowned  \vith  anthers.  In  like  manner  the  florets,  which  form  the 
rays  of  the  flowers  of  the  order  fruftraneous  polygamy  of  the  clafs  fynge- 
nefia,  or  confederate  males,  as  the  fun-flower,  are  furnifhed  with  a  ftyle 
only,  and  no  ftigma,  and  are  thence  barren.  There  is  alfo  a  ftyle  without 
a  ftigma  in  the  whole  order  dioecia  gynandria;  the  male  flowers  of  which 
are  thence  barren.  The  Opulus  is  another  plant  which  contains  fome  «n- 
prolific  flowers.  In  like  manner  fome  tribes  of  infeds  have  males,  females, 
and  neuters  among  them ;  as  bees,  wafps,  ants. 

There  is  a  curious  circumftance  belonging  to  the  clafs  of  infe&s  which 
have  two  wings,  or  diptera,  analogous  to  the  rudiments  of  ftamens  above 


ftf. 


CANTO  I.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  13 

•Four  beardlefs  youths  the  obdurate  beauty  move 
With  foft  attentions  of  Platonic  love. 

With  vain  defines  the  penfive  ALCEA  burns, 
And,  like  fad  ELOISA,  loves  and  mourns.  70 

The  freckled  IRIS  owns  a  fiercer  flame, 
And  three  unjealous  hufbands  wed  the  dame. 
CUPRESSUS  dark  difdains  his  dulky  bride, 
One  dome  contains  them,  but  two  beds  divide. 


defcribed;  viz.  two  little  knobs  are  found  placed,  each  on  a  ftalk  or  pedun- 
cle, generally  under  a  little  arched  fcale;  which  appear  to  be  rudiments  of 
hinder  wings;  and  are  called  by  Linnaeus  halteres,  or  poifers,  a  term  of  his 
introduction.  A.  T.  Bladh.  Amoen.  Acad.  V.  7.  Other  animals  have 
marks  of  having,  in  a  long  procefs  of  time,  undergone  changes  in  fdme 
parts  of  their  bodies,  which  may  have  been  effected  to  accommodate  them 
to  new  ways  of  procuring  their  food.  The  exiftence  of  teats  on  the  breafts 
of  male  animals,  and  which  are  generally  replete  with  a  thin  kind  of  milk 
at  their  nativity,  is  a  wonderful  inftance  of  this  kind.  Perhaps  all  the  pro- 
ductions of  nature  are  in  their  progrefs  to  greater  perfection  ?  an  idea  coun- 
tenanced by  the  modern  difcoveries  and  deductions  concerning  the  progref- 
five  formation  of  the  folid  parts  of  the  terraqueous  globe,  and  confonant  to 
the  dignity  of  the  Creator  of  all  things. 

Alcea.  1.  69.  Flore  pleno.  Double  hollyhock.  The  double  flowers,  fo 
much  admired  by  the  florifts,  are  termed,  by  the  botanift,  vegetable  monfters : 
in  fame  of  thefe  the  petals  are  multiplied  three  or  four  times,  but  without 
excluding  the  ftamens;  hence  they  produce  fome  feeds,  as  Campanula  and 
Stramonium ;  but  in  others  the  petals  become  fo  numerous  as  totally  to  ex- 
clude the  ftamens,  or  males,  as  Caltha,  Peonia,  and  Alcea;  thefe  produce  no 
ieeds,  and  are  termed  eunuchs.  Philof.  Botan.  No.  150, 

Thefe  vegetable  monfters  are  formed  in  many  ways:  I  ft.  By  the  mul- 
tiplication of  the  petals,  and  the  exclufion  of  the  nectaries,  as  in  larkfpur. 
ad.  By  the  multiplication  of  the  nectaries,  and  exclufion  of  the  petals,  as 
in  columbine.  3d.  In  fome  flowers  growing  in  cymes,  the  wheel-fhape 
flowers  in  the  margin  are  multiplied  to  the  exclufion  of  the  bell-ftiape  flowers 
in  the  centre,  as  in  gelder-rofe.  4th.  By  the  elongation  of  the  florets  in 
the  centre.  Inftances  of  both  thefe  are  found  in  daify  and  feverfew :  for 
other  kinds  of  vegetable  monfters,  fee  Plantago. 

The  perianth  is  not  changed  in  double  flowers;  hence  the  genus,  or  fa- 
mily, may  be  often  difcovered  by  the  calyx,  as  in  Hepatica,  Ranunculus, 
Alcea.  In  thofe  flowers  which  have  many  petals,  the  loweft  feries  of  the 
petals  remains  unchanged  in  refpect  to  number ;  hence  the  natural  number 
of  the  petals  is  eafily  difcovered,  as  in  poppies,  rofes,  and  Nigella,  or  devil 
in  a  bufli.  Phil.  Bot.  p.  128. 

Iris.  1.  71.  Flower  de  Luce.  Three  males,  one  female.  Some  of  the 
fpecies  have  a  beautifully  freckled  flower;  the  large  ftigma,  or  head  of  the 
female,  covers  the  three  males,  counterfeiting  a  petal  with  its  divifions. 

Cupreffut.  1.  73.  Cyprefs.  One  houfe.  The  males  live  in  feparate  flow- 
ers, but  on  the  fame  plant.  The  males  of  fome  of  thefe  plants,  which  are 


i6  BOTANIC  GARDEN:,  PA*T  II. 

The  proud  OSYRIS  flies  his  angry  fair,  75 

Two  houfes  hold  the  fafhionable  pair. 

With  flrange  deformity  PLANTAGO  treads, 
A  monfter-birth !   and  lifts  his  hundred  heads ; 
Yet  with  foft  love  a  gentle  belle  he  charms, 
And  clafps  the  beauty  in  his  hundred  arms;  80 

So  haplefs  DESDEMONA,  fair  and  young, 
Won  by  OTHELLO'S  captivating  tongue, 
Sigh'd  o'er  each  ftrange  and  piteous  tale,  diftrefs'd, 
And  funk,  enamour'd,  on  his  footy  breaft, 


in  fepairate  flowers  from  the  females,  have  an  elaftic  membrane ;  which  dif- 
perfes  their  duft  to  a  confiderable  diftance,  when  the  anthers  burft  open. 
This  duft,  on  a  fine  day,  may  often  be  feen  like  a  cloud  hanging  round  the 
common  nettle.  The  males  and  females  of  all  the  cone-bearing  plants  are 
in  feparate  flowers,  either  on  the  fame  or  on  different  plants ;  they  produce 
refins,  and  many  of  them  are  fuppofed  to  fupply  the  moft  durable  timber : 
what  is  called  Venice-turpentine  is  obtained  from  the  larch  by  wounding 
the  bark  about  two  feet  from  the  ground,  and  catching  it  as  it  exfudes; 
Sandarach  is  procured  from  common  juniper;  and  incenfe  from  a  juniper 
with  yellow  fruit.  The  unperifhable  chefts,  which  contain  the  Egyptian 
mummies,  were  of  Cyprefs ;  and  the  Cedar,  with  which  black-lead  pencils  are 
covered,  is  not  liable  to  be  eaten  by  worms.  See  Miln's  Bot.  Didt.  art.  coni- 
ferse.  The  gates  of  St.  Peter's  church  at  Rome,  which  had  lafted  from  the 
time  of  Conftantine  to  that  of  Pope  Eugene  the  Fourth,  that  is  to  fay,  ele- 
ven hundred  years,  were  of  Cyprefs,  and  had  in  that  time  fuffered  no  decay. 
According  to  Thucydides,  the  Athenians  buried  the  bodies  of  their  heroes 
in  coffins  of  Cyprefs,  as  being  not  fubjecl  to  decay.  A  iimilar  durability  has 
alfo  been  afcribed  to  Cedar.  Thus  Horace, 


—fperamus  carmlna  fitipi 


PoJJe  Unenda  ccdro  &  lavi  fer'vanda  cubrcJJ'o* 

Ofyrls.  1.  75.  Two  houfes.  The  males  and  females  are  on  different 
plants.  There  are  many  inftances  on  record,  where  female  plants  have  been 
impregnated  at  very  great  diftance  from  their  male;  the  duft  difrharged 
from  the  anthers  is  very  light,  fmall,and  copious,  fo  that  it  may  fpread  very 
wide  in  the  atmofphere,  and  be  carried  to  the  diftant  piftils,  without  the 
fuppofition  of  any  particular  attradlion ;  thefe  plants  referable  fome  infects, 
as  the  ants,  and  cochineal  infect,  of  which  the  males  have  wings,  but  not 
the  females. 

Plantago.  1.  77-  Rofea.  Rofe-Plantain.  In  this  vegetable  monfter  the 
bradtes,  or  divifions  of  the  fpike,  become  wonderfully  enlarged;  and  are  con- 
verted into  leaves.  The  chaffy  fcales  of  the  calyx  in  Xeranthemum,  and  in 
a  fpecies  of  Dianthus,  and  the  glume  in  fome  alpine  graffes,  and  the  fcales  of 
the  ament  in  the  Salix  Rofea,  rofe -willow,  grow  into  leaves ;  and  produce 
other  kinds  of  monfters.  The  double  flowers  become  monfters  by  the  multi- 
plication of  their  petals  or  nedtaries.  See  note  on  Alcea. 


CANTO  I.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  j; 

Two  gentle  fhepherds,  and  their  fifter-wives,  85 

Withthee,  ANTHOXA!  lead  ambrofial  lives; 
Where  the  wide  heath  in  purple  pride  extends, 
And  fcatter'd  furze  its  golden  luftre  blends, 
Clofed  in  a  green  recefs,  unenvy'd  lot ! 
The  blue  fmoak  rifes  from  their  turf-built  cot ;  90 

Bofom'd  in  fragrance  blufh  their  infant  train, 
Eye  the  warm  fun,  or  drink  the  filver  rain. 

The  fair  OSMUND  A  feeks  the  filent  dell, 

he  ivy  canopy,  and  dripping  cell ; 
There,  hid  in  (hades,  clandestine  rites  approves,  gt} 

TiH  the  green  progeny  betrays  her  loves. 

With  charms  defpotic  fair  CHONDRILLA  reigns 
O'er  the  foft  hearts  of  fve  fraternal  fwains; 


AnthoKanthiim.  1.  86.  Vernal  grafs.  Two  males,  two  females.  The 
other  graffes  have  three  males  and  two  females.  The  flowers  of  this  grafs 
give  the  fragrant  fcent  to  hay.  I  am  informed  it  is  frequently  viviparous, 
that  is,  that  it  bears  fometimes  roots  or  bulbs  inftead  of  feeds,  which,  after  a 
time,  drop  off,  and  ftrike  root  into  the  ground.  This  circumftance  is  faid  to 
obtain  in  many  of  the  alpine  graffes,  whofe  feeds  are  perpetually  devoured 
by  fmall  birds.  The  Fefluca  Dumetorum,  fefcue  grafs  of  the  bufhes,  pro- 
duces bulbs  from  the  faeaths  of  its  ftraw.  The  Allium  Magicum,  or  magi- 
cal onion,  produces  onions  on  its  head,  inftead  of  feeds.  The  Polygonum 
Viviparum,  viviparous  biftort,  rifes  about  a  foot  high,  with  a  beautiful  fpike 
of  flowers,  which  are  fucceeded  by  buds  or  bulbs,  which  fall  off,  and  take 
root.  There  is  a  twafti  frequently  &en  on  birch-trees,  like  a  bird's  nefl, 
which  feems  to  be  a  fimilar  attempt  of  nature,  to  produce  another  tree, 
ivhich,  falling  off,  might  take  root  in  fpongy  ground. 

There  isi,  an  inftance  of  this  double  mode  of  production  in  the  animal 
kingdom,  which  is  equally  extraordinary:  the  fame  fpecies  of  Aphis  is  vi- 
viparous in  fummer,  and  oviparous  in  autumn.  A-  T.  Bladh.  Aincen.  Acad. 
V.  7- 

Ofmunda.  1.  93,  This  plant  grows  on  moift  rocks;  the  parts  of  its  flower 
or  its  feeds  are  fcarce  discernible;  whence  Linnaeus  has  given  the  name  of 
clandefline  marriage  to  this  clafs.  The  younger  plants  are  of  a  beautiful  vi- 
vid green. 

Chondrilla.  1.  97.  Of  the  clafs  Confederate  Males.  The  numerous  flo- 
rets, which  conftitute  the  dific  pf  the  flowers  in  this  clafs,  contain  in  each 
five  males  furrounding  one  female,  which  are  conne\5ted.at  top,  whence  the 
name  of  the  c'lafs.  An  Italian  writer,  in  a  difcourfe  on  the  irritability  of 
flowers,  afferts,  that  if  the  top  of  the  floret  be  touched,  all  the  filaments 
which  fupport  the  cylindrical  anther  will  contract  themfelves,  and  that,  by 
thus  railing  or  deprefling  the  anther,  the  whole  of  the  prolific  dufl  is  col- 

PART  II.  C 


1 8  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  11. 

If  fighs  the  changeful  nymph,  alike  they  mourn ; 

And,  if  flie  fmiles,  with  rival  raptures  burn.  100 

So,  tun'd  in  unifon,  Eolian  Lyre  ! 

Sounds  in  fweet  fymphony  thy  kindred  wire  ; 

Now,  gently  fwept  by  Zephyr's  vernal  wings, 

Sink  in  foft  cadences  the  love-fick  firings ; 

And  now  with  mingling  chords,  and  voices  higher,  105 

Peal  the  full  anthems  of  the  aerial  choir. 

Five  fitter- nymphs  to  join  Diana's  train 
With  thee,  fair  LYCHNIS  !  vow, — but  vow  in  vain; 
Beneath  one  roof  refides  the  virgin  band, 
Flies  the  fond  fwain,  and  fcorns  his  offered  hand;  no 

But  when  foft  hours  on  breezy  pinions  move, 
And  fmiling  May  attunes  her  lute  to  love, 
Each  wanton  beauty,  trick'd  in  all  her  grace, 
Shakes  the  bright  dew-drops  from  her  blufhing  face; 
In  gay  undrefs  difplays  her  rival  charms,  115 

And  calls  her  wondering  lovers  to  her  arms. 

When  the  young  Hours,  amid  her  tangled  hair, 
Wove  the  frefh  rofe-bud,  and  the  lily  fair, 
Proud  GLORIOSA  led  three  choien  fwains, 
The  blufhing  captives  of  her  virgin  chains —  120 


lefted  on  the  fligma.  He  adds,  that  If  one  filament  be  touched  after  it  is 
fcparated  from  the  floret,  that  it  will  contract  like  the  mufcular  fibres  of 
animal  bodies:  his  experiments  were  tried  on  the  Centaurea  Calcitrapoides, 
and  on  artichokes  and  globe-thiflles.  Difcourfe  on  irritability  of  plants. 
Dodiley. 

Lychnis.  1.  108.  Tea  males  and  five  females.  The  flowers  which  con- 
tain the  five  females,  and  thofe  which  contain  the  ten  males,  are  found  on 
different  plants,  and  often  at  a  great  diftance  from  each  other.  Five  of 
the  ten  males  arrive  at  thqjr  maturity  fome  days  before  the  other  five,  as 
may  be  feen  by  opening  the  corol  before  it  naturally  expands  itfelf.  When 
the  females  arrive  at  their  maturity,  they  rife  above  the  petals,  as  if  look- 
ing abroad  for  their  diftant  hulbands :  the  fcarlet  ones  contribute  much  to 
the  beauty  of  our  meadows  in  May  and  June. 

Gloriofa.  1.  119.  Superba.  Six  males,  one  female.  The  petals  of  this 
beautiful  flower,  with  three  of  the  ftamens,  which  are  firft  mature,  Hand 
up  in  apparent  diforcler;  and  the  piftil  bends  at  nearly  a  right  angle,  to  in- 
fert  its  ftigma  amongft  them.  In  a  few  days,  as  thefe  decline,  the  other 
three  ftamens  bend  over,  and  approach  the  piftil.  In  the  Fritillaria  PerCca, 
the  fix  ftamens  are  of  equal  lengths,  and  the  anthers  lie  at  a  diftance  from 


•      m-m 


I 


J 


' 


CANTO  I.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  19 

When  Time's  rude  hand  a  bark  of  wrinkles  fpread 
Round  her  weak  limbs,  and  filver'd  o'er  her  head, 
Three  other  youths  her  riper  years  engage, 
The  flatter'd  vi&ims  of  her  wily  age. 

So,  in  her  wane  of  beauty,  NINON  won  •  125 

With  fatal  fmiles  her  gay  unconfcious  fon. — 
Clafp'd  in  his  arms,  fhe  own'd  a  mother's  name, — 
"  Defift,  rafh  youth !  reftrain  your  impious  flame, 
"  Firft  on  that  bed  your  infant-form  was  prefs'd, 
"  Born  by  my  throes,  and  nurtured  at  my  breaft." —        130 
Back  as  from  death  he  fprung,  with  wild  amaze 
Fierce  on  the  fair  he  fix'd  his  ardent  gaze ; 
Dropp'd  on  one  knee,  his  frantic  arms  outfpread, 
And  ftole  a  guilty  glance  toward  the  bed ; 
Then  breath'd  from  quivering  lips  a  whifper'd  vow,          135 
And  bent  on  heaven  his  pale  repentant  brow; 
"  Thus,  thus !"  he  cried,  and  plung'd  the  furious  dart, 
And  life  and  love  gufh'd,  mingled,  from  his  heart. 

The  fell  SILENE,  and  her  fitters  fair, 
Skill'd  in  deftru&ion,  fpread  the  vifcous  fnare.  140 


the  piftil,  and  three  alternate  ones  approach  firft;  and,  when  thefe  decline, 
the  other  three  approach :  in  the  Lithrum  Salicaria  (which  has  twelve  males 
and  one  female),  a  beautiful  red  flower,  which  grows  on  the  banks  of  rivers, 
fix.  of  the  males  arrive  at  maturity,  and  fur  round  the  female  fome  time  be- 
fore the  other  fix ;  when  thefe  decline,  the  other  fix  rife  up,  and  fupply 
their  places.  Several  other  flowers  have,  in  a  fimilar  manner,  two  fets  of 
ftamens  of  different  ages,  as  Adoxa,  Lychnis,  Saxifraga.  See  Genifta. 
Perhaps  a  difference  in  the  time  of  their  maturity  obtains  in  all  thefe  flow- 
ers, which  have  numerous  ftamens.  In  the  Kalmiu,  the  ten  ftamens  lie 
round  the  piftil  like  the  radii  of  a  wheel;  and  each  anther  is  concealed  in 
a  nich  of  the  corol,  to  protect  it  from  cold  and  moifture ;  thefe  anthers 
rife  feparately  from  their  niches,  and  approach  the  piftil  for  a  time,  and 
then  recede  to  their  former  fituations. 

Silene.  1.  139.  Catchfly.  Three  females  and  ten  males  inhabit  each 
flower ;  the  vifcous  material,  which  furrounds  the  ftalks  under  the  flowers 
of  this  plant,  and  of  the  Cucubalus  Otites,  is  a  curious  contrivance  to  pre- 
vent various  infects  from  plundering  the  honey,  or  devouring  the  feed.  In 
the  Dionaea  Mufcipula  there  is  a  ftill  more  wonderful  contrivance  to  prevent 
the  depredations  of  infects:  the  leaves  are  armed  with  long  teeth,  like 
the  antennas  of  infects,  and  lie  fpread  upon  the  ground  round  the  ftem; 
and  are  fo  irritable,  that  when  an  infect  creeps  upon  them,  they  fold  up, 


id  BOTANIC  GARDEN,  PART 

The  harlot-band  ten  lofty  bravoes  fcreen, 

And,  frowning,  guard  the  magic  nets  unfeen. — 

Hafte  glittering  nations,  tenants  of  the  air, 

Oh,  fleer  from  hence  your  viewlefs  courfe  afar ! 

If  with  foft  words,  fweet  blufhes,  nods,  and  fmiles, 

The  three  dread  Syrens  lure  you  to  their  toils, 

Limed  by  their  art  in  vain  you  point  your  flings, 

In  vain  the  efforts  of  your  whirring  wings !  — 

Go,  feek  your  gilded  mates  and  infant  hives, 

Nor  tafte  the  honey  purchafed  with  your  lives !  150 

When  heaven's  high  vault  condenfmg  clouds  deform, 
Fair  AMARYLLIS  flies  the  incumbent  florin. 


and  crufh  or  pierce  it  .to  death.  The  laft  ProfefTor  Linnjeus,  in  his  Sup- 
plementum  Plantarum,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  Arum  Mufci- 
vorum.  The  flower  has  the  fmell  of  carrion ;  by  which  the  flies  are  in- 
vited to  lay  their  eggs  in  the  chamber  of  the  flower,  but,  in  vain,  endea- 
vour to  efcape,  being  prevented  by  the  hairs  pointing  inwards,  and  thus  pe- 
rifh  in  the  flower;  -whence  its  name  of  fly-eater.  P.  411.  In  the  Dypfa- 
cus  is  another  contrivance  for  this  purpofe :  a  bafon  of  water  is  placed 
round  each  joint  of  the  ftem.  In  the  Drofera  is  another  kind  of  fly-trap. 
See  Dypfacus  and  Drofera.  The  flowers  of  Silene  and  Cucubalus  are 
clofed  all  day,  but  are  open,  and  give  an  agreeable  odour  in  the  night.  See 
Cerea.  See  additional  notes  at  the  end  of  the  porjm. 

Amaryllis.  1.  152.  Formofifilma.  Moft  beautiful  Amaryllis.  Six  males, 
one  female.  Some  of  the  bell-flowers  clofe  their  apertures  at  night,  or  in 
rainy  or  cold  weather,  as  the  convolvulus,  and  thus  prou.ct  their  included 
ftamens  and  piftils.  Other  bell-flowers  hang  their  apertures  downwards, 
as  many  of  the  lilies;  in  thofe  the  piftil,  when  at  maturity,  is  longer  than 
the  ftamens;  and  by  this  pendant  attitude  of  the  bell,  when  the  anthers 
burft,  their  duft  falls  on  the  ftigma;  and  thefe  are,  at  the  fame  time,  fhel- 
tered  as  with  an  umbrella  from  rain  and  dews.  But,  as  a  free  expofure  to 
the  air  is  neceffary  for  their  fecundation,  the  ftyle  and  filaments  in  many  of 
thefe  flowers  continue  to  grow  longer  after  the  bell  is  open,  and  hang  down 
below  its  rim.  In  others,  as  in  the  Martagon,  the  bell  is  deeply  divided, 
and  the  divifions  are  reflected  Upwards,  that  they  may  not  prevent  the  ac- 
cefs  of  air,  and,  at  the  fame  time,  afford  fome  fhelter  from  perpendicular 
rain  or  dew.  Other  bell-flowers,  as  the  Hemerocallis  and  Amaryllis,  have 
their  bells  nodding  only,  as  it  were,  or  hanging  obliquely  towards  the  ho- 
rizon ;  which,  as  their  ftems  are  flender,  turn  like  a  weathercock  from 
the  wind,  and  thus  very  effectually  preferve  their  inclofed  ftamens  and  an- 
thers from  the  rain  and  cold.  Many  of  thefe  flowers,  both  before  and  af- 
ter their  feafon  of  fecundation,  erecl:  their  heads  perpendicular  to  the  hori- 
zon, like  the  Meadia,  which  cannot  be  explained  from  mere  mechanifm. 

The  Amaryllis  Formofiflima  is  a  flower  of  the  laft-mentioned  kind,  and 
affords  an  agreeable  example  of  art  in  the  vegetable  economy.  I.  The  pif- 
til is  of  great  length  compared  with  the  ftamens;  and  this  I  fuppofe  to  have 


* 


» 


CAKTO  I.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  >     zi 

Seeks  with  unfteady  ftep  the  fhelter'd  vale, 

And  turns  her  blufhing  beauties  from  the  gale. — 

Six  rival  youths,  with  foft  concern  imprefs'd,  155 

Calm  all  her  fears,  and  charm  her  cares  to  reft. — 

So  fliines  at  eve  the  fun-illumin'd  fane, 

Lifts  its  bright  crofs,  and  waves  its  golden  vane; 

From  every  breeze  the  polifh'd  axle  turns, 

And  high  in  air  the  dancing  meteor  burns.  160 

Four  of  the  giant  brood  with  ILEX  ftand, 
Each  grafps  a  thoufand  arrows  in  his  hand  ; 

been  the  moft  unchangeable  part  of  the  flower,  as  in  Meadia,  -which  fee. 
a.  To  counteract  this  circumftance,  the  piftil  and  ftameris  are  made  to  de- 
cline downwards,  that  the  prolific  duft  might  fall  from  the  anthers  on  the 
fHgma  3.  To  produce  this  effect,  and  to  fecure  it  when  produced,  the 
corol  is  lacerated,  contrary  to  what  occurs  in  other  flowers  of  this  genus,  and 
the  loweft  divifion,with  the  two  next  lowcft  ones,  are  wrapped  clofely  over 
the  ftyle  and  filaments,  binding  them  forcibly  down  lower  towards  the  ho- 
rizon, than  the  ufual  inclination  of  the  bell  in  this  genus,  and  thus  conftii- 
tutes  a  moft  elegant  flower.  There  is  another  contrivance  for  this  purpofe 
;n  the  Hemerocalhs  Flava:  the  long  piftil  often  is  bent  fcmewhat  like  the 
capital  letter  JV,  with  defign  to  fhorten  it,  and  thus  to  bring  the  ftigma 
amongft  the  anthers. 

Ilex.  1.  161.  Holly.  Four  males,  four  females.  Many  plants,  like 
many  animals,  are  furnifhed  with  arms  for  their  protection ;  thefe  are  either 
aculei,  prickles,  as  in  rofe  and  barberry,  which  are  formed  from  the  outer 
bark  of  the  plant;  or  fpinse,  thorns,  as  in  hawthorn,  which  are  an  elonga- 
tion of  the  wood,  and  hence  more  difficult  to  be  torn  off  than  the  former;  or 
ftimuli,  flings,  as  in  the  nettles,  which  are  armed  with  a  venomous  fluid 
for  the  annoyance  of  naked  animals.  The  fhrubs  and  trees  which  have 
prickles  or  thorns,  are  grateful  food  to  many  animals,  as  goofeberry  and 
gorfe;  and  would  be  quickly  devoured  if  not  thus  armed;  the  ftings  feem 
a  protection  againft  fome  kinds  of  infects,  as  well  as  the  naked  mouths  of 
quadrupeds.  Many  plants  lofe  their  thorns  by  cultivation,  as  wild  animals 
lofe  their  ferocity,  and  fome  of  them  their^  horns.  A  curious  circumftancc 
attends  the  large  hollies  in  Needwood  foreft ;  they  are  armed  with  thorny 
leaves  about  eight  feet  high,  and  have  fmcoth  leaves  above,  as  if  they  were 
confcious  that  horfes  and  cattle  could  not  reach  their  upper  branches.  See 
note  on  Meadia,  and  on  Mancinella.  The  numerous  clumps  of  hollies  in 
Needwood  foreft  ferve  as  land-marks  to  direct  the  travellers  acrofs  it  in  va- 
rious directions;  and  as  a  fhelter  to  the  deer  and  cattle  in  winter;  and,  in 
fcarce  feafons,  fupply  them  with  much  food.  For  when  the  upper  branches, 
which  are  without  prickles,  arc  cut  down,  the  deer  crop  the  leaves  and 
peel  off  the  bark.  The  bird-lime  made  from  the  bark  of  hollies  feems  ta 
be  a  very  fimilar  material  to  the  elaftic  gum,  or  Indian  rubber,  as  it  is  called. 
There  is  a  foflile  elaftic  bitumen  found  at  Matlock,  in  Derbyfhire,  which 
much  refembles  thefe  fubftances  in  its  elafticity  and  inflammability.  The 
thorns  of  the  Mimofa  Cornigera  refemble  cows'  horns  in  appearance  as  well 
as  in  ufe.  Syftem  of  Vegetables,  p.  782. 


2*  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

A  thoufand  (leely  points  on  every  fcale 

Form  the  bright  terrors  of  his  briftly  mail. — 

So  arm'd,  immortal  Moore  uncharm'd  the  fpell,  165 

And  flew  the  wily  dragon  of  the  well  — 

Sudden  with  rage  their  injured  bofoms  burn, 

Retort  the  infult,  or  the  wound  return ; 

Unwrongd,  as  gentle  as  the  breeze  that  fweeps 

The  unbending  harvefts  or  undimpled  deeps,  170 

They  guard,  the  Kings  of  Needwood's  wide  domains, 

Their  fitter- wives  and  fair  infantine  trains ; 

Lead  the  lone  pilgrim  through  the  tracklefs  glade, 

Or  guide  in  leafy  wilds  the  wand'ring  maid. 

So  WRIGHT'S  bold  pencil  from  Vefuvio's  height         175 
Hurls  his  red  lavas  to  the  troubled  night ; 
From  Calpe  darts  the  intolerable  flaih, 
Skies  burft  in  flames,  and  blazing  oceans  dafli ; — 
Or  bids  in  fweet  repofe  his  (hades  recede, 
Winds  the  ftill  vale,  and  flopes  the  velvet  mead;  180 

On  the  pale  flream  expiring  Zephyrs  link, 
And  Moonlight  fleeps  upon  its  hoary  brink. 

Gigantic  Nymph!  the  fair  KLEINHO VIA  reigns, 
The  grace  and  terror  of  Orixa's  plains ; 
O'er  her  warm  cheek  the  bluili  of  beauty  fwims,  185 

And  nerves  Herculean  bend  her  fmewy  limbs; 

Hurls  his  red  lavas.  1.  176.  Alluding  to  the  grand  paintings  of  the  erup- 
tions of  Vefuvius,  and  of  the  deftruclion  of  the  Spanilh  veflels  before  Gib- 
raltar; and  to  the  beautiful  lan,dfcapes,  and  moonlight  fcenes,  by  Mr. 
Wright,  of  Derby. 

Kleinbo-uia.  1.  183.  In  this  clafs  the  males  in  each  flower  are  fupported 
by  the  female.  The  name  of  the  clafs  may  be  tranflated  "  Viragoes,"  or 
"  Feminine  Males." 

The  largeft  tree  perhaps  in  the  world,  is  of  the  fame  natural  order  as 
Kleinhovia;  it  is  the  Adanfonia,  or  Ethiopian  Sour-gourd,  or  African  Cala- 
bafh-tree.  Mr.  Adanfon  fays  the  diameter  of  the  trunk  frequently  exceeds 
25  feet,  and  the  horizontal  branches  are  from  ^  to  55  feet  long,  and  fo 
large  that  each  branch  is  equal  to  the  largeft  tree's  of  Europe.  The  breadth 
of  the  top  is  from  120  to  150  feet ;  and  one  of  the  roots  bared  only  in  part, 
by  the  wafliing  away  of  the  earth  from  the  river,  near  which  it  grew, 
meafured  no  feet  long;  and  yet  thefe  ilupendous  trees  never  exceed  70  feet 
in  height.  Voyage  to  Senegal. 


CANTO  I.          LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  23 

With  frolic  eye  fhe  views  the  affrighted  throng, 

And  makes  the  meadows  as  me  towers  along; 

With  playful  violence  difplays  her  charms, 

And  bears  her  trembling  lovers  in  her  arms.  190 

So  fair  THALESTRIS  fhook  her  plumy  creft, 

And  bound  in  rigid  mail  her  jutting  breaft ; 

Poifed  her  long  lance  amid  the  walks  of  war, 

And  Beauty  thunder'd  from  Bellona's  car ; 

Greece  arm'd  in  vain,  her  captive  heroes  wove  195 

The  chains  of  conqueft  with  the  wreaths  of  love. 

When  o'er  the  cultivated  lawns  and  dreary  waftes 
Retiring  Autumn  flings  her  howling  blafts, 
Bends  in  tumultuous  waves  the  ftruggling  woods, 
And  mowers  their  leafy  honours  on  the  floods,  20O 

In  withering  heaps  colle&s  the  flowery  fpoil, 
And  each  chill  infecT:  fmks  beneath  the  foil ; 
Quick  flies  fair  TULIP  A  the  loud  alarms, 
And  folds  her  infant  clofer  in  her  arms  ; 

In  fome  lone  cave,  fecure  pavilion,  lies,  205 

And  waits  the  courtfhip  of  ferener  fkies. — 
So,  fix  cold  moons,  the  Dormoufe  charm'd  to  reft, 
Indulgent  Sleep !  beneath  thy  eider  breaft, 


Tullpa.  1.  203.  Tulip.  What  is,  in  common  language,  called  a  bulb* 
ous-root,  is,  by  Linnaeus,  termed  the  Hybernacle,  or  Winter-lodge  of  the 
young  plant.  As  thefe  bulbs,  in  every  refpect,  refemble  buds,  except  in 
their  being  produced  under  ground,  and  include  the  leaves  and  flower  iu 
miniature,  which  are  to  be  expanded  in  the  enfuing  fpring.  By  cautioufly 
cutting,  in  winter,  through  the  concentric  coats  of  a  tulip-root,  longitudi- 
nally from  the  top  to  the  bafe,  and  taking  them  off  fucceffively,  the  whole 
flower  of  the  next  fummer's  tulip  is  beautifully  feen  by  the  naked  eye,  with 
its  petals,  piftil,  and  ftamens;  the  flowers  exift  in  other  bulbs  in  the  fame 
manner  as  in  Hyacinths ;  but  the  individual  flowers  of  thefe  being  lefs, 
they  are  not  fo  eafily  differed,  or  fo  confpicuous  to  the  naked  eye. 

In  the  feeds  of  the  Nymphsea  Nelumbo,  the  leaves  of  the  plant  are  feen 
fo  diftin&ly,  that  Mr.  Ferber  found  out  by  them  to  what  plant  the  feeds  be- 
longed. Amoen.  Acad.  V.  vi.  No.  lao.  He  fays,  that  Mariotte  firft  ob- 
ferved  the  future  flower  and  foliage  in  the  bulb  of  a  tulip;  and  adds,  that 
it  is  pleafant  to  fee  in  the  buds  of  the  Hepatica  and  Pedicularis  hirfuta,  yet 
lying  in  the  earth ;  and  in  the  gems  of  Daphne  Mezereon ;  and  at  the  bafe 
of  Ofmunda  Lunaria,  a  perfed  plant  of  the  future  year,  complete  in  all  its 
pans.  Ibid. 


24  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

In  fields  of  Fancy  climbs  the  kernel'd  groves, 

Or  fhares  the  golden  harveft  with  his  loves.: —  2io 

Then  bright  from  earth,  amid  the  troubled  fky, 

ATcendsfair  COLCHICA  with  radiant  eye, 

Warms  the  cold  bofom  of  the  hoary  year, 

And  lights  with  Beauty's  blaze  the  dufky  fphere. 

Three  blufhing  Maids  the  intrepid  Nymph  attend,  215 

Andjix  gay  Youths,  enamour'd  train  !  defend. 

So  {nines  with  iilver  guards  the  Georgian  ftar, 

And  drives  on  Night's  blue  arch  his  glittering  car ; 

Hangs  o'er  the  billowy  clouds  his  lucid  form, 

Wades  thro'  the  mill:,  and  dances  in  the  florm.  220 

GREAT  HELIANTHUS  guides  o'er  twilight  plains 
Jn  gay  folemnity  his  Dervife-trains  ; 
Marfhall'd  in  fives  each  gaudy  band  proceeds, 
Each  gaudy  band  a  plumed  Lady  leads ; 


Colclicum  autumnale.  1.  212.  Autumnal  Meadow-fafFro'n.  Six  male?;, 
three  females.  The  germ  is  buried  within  the  root,  which  thus  feems 
to  conftitute  a  part  of  the  flower.  Families  of  Plants,  p.  242.  Thefe  fin- 
gular  flowers  appear  in  the  autumn  without  any  leaves,  whence,  in  fome 
countries,  they  are  called  Naked  Ladies:  in  the  March  following  the 
green  leaves  fpring  up,  and  in  April  the  feed-veffel  rifes  from  the  ground ; 
the  feeds  ripen  in  May,  contrary  to  the  ufual  habits  of  vegetables,  which 
flower  in  the  fpring,  and  ripen  their  feeds  in  the  autumn.  Miller's  Diet. 
The  juice  of  the  root  of  this  plant  is  fo  acrid  as  to  produce  violent  ef- 
fects on  the  human  conftitution,  which  alfo  prevents  it  from  being  eaten 
by  fubterranean  infects,  and  thus  guards  the  feed-veffel  during  the  winter. 
The  defoliation  of  deciduous  trees  is  announced  by  the  flowering  of  the 
Colchicum;  of  thefe  the  afh  is  the  laft  that  puts  forth  its  leaves,  and  the 
firft  that  lofes  them.  Phil.  Bot.  p.  275. 

The  Hamamelis,  Witch  Hazel,  is  another  plant  which  flowers  in  autumn  ; 
when  the  leaves  fall  off,  the  flowers  come  out  in  clufters  from  the  joints  of 
the  branches,  and  in  Virginia  ripen  their  feed  in  the  enfuing  fpring,  but  in 
this  country  their  feeds  feldom  ripen.  Lin.  Spec.  Plant.  Miller's  Diet. 

Hcliantbus.  1.  221.  Sun-flower.  The  numerous  florets,  which  confti- 
tute the  diflc  of  this  flower,  contain  in  each  five  males  iurrounding  one  fe- 
male, the  five  ftamens  have  their  anthers  connected  at  top,  whence  the 
name  of  the  clafs  "  confederate  males;"  fee  note  on  Chondrilla.  The  fun- 
flower  follows  the  courfe  of  the  fun  by  nutation,  not  by  twilling  its  ftem. 
(Hale's  Vcg.  Stat.)  Other  plants,  when  they  are  confined  in  a  room,  turn 
the  fnining  furface  of  their  leaves,  and  bend  their  whole  branches  to  the, 
light.  See  Mimofa. 

A  plumed  Lady  leads.  1.  224.  The  feeds  of  many  plants  of  this  clafs  are 
furniihed  with  a  plume,  by  which  admirable  mcchiuiilk),  they  are 


CANTO  I,  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  25 

With  zealous  flep  he  climbs  the  upland  lawn,  225 

And  bows  in  homage  to  the  rifing  dawn ; 
Imbibes  with  eagle  eye  the  golden  ray, 
And  watches,  as  it  moves,  the  orb  of  day. 

QUEEN  of  the  marfli,  imperial  DROSERA  treads 
Ruth-fringed  banks,  and  mofs-embroider'd  beds  ;  230 

Redundant  folds  of  glofly  filk  furround 
Her  {lender  waift,  and  trail  upon  the  ground; 
Five  fifter- nymphs  collect  with  graceful  eafe, 
Or  fpread  the  floating  purple  to  the  breeze ; 
And  five  fair  youths  with  duteous  love  comply  235 

With  each  foft  mandate  of  her  moving  eye. 
As  with  fweet  grace  her  fnowy  neck  ihe  bows, 
A  zone  of  diamonds  trembles  round  her  brows; 
Bright  fhines  the  filver  halo,  as  (he  turns ; 
And,  as  {he  fteps,  the  living  luftre  burns,  240 


nated  by  the  winds  far  from  their  parent  ftem,  and  look  like  a  fhuttlecock, 
as  they  fly.  Other  feeds  are  diffeminated  by  animals ;  of  thefe  fome  attach 
themfelves  to  their  hair  or  feathers  by  a  gluten,  asmifleto;  others  by  hooks, 
as  cleavers,  burdock,  hounds-tongue;  and  others  are  fwallowed  whole  for 
the  fake  of  the  fruit,  and  voided  uninjured,  as  the  hawthorn,  juniper,  and 
fome  graffes.  Other  feeds  again  difperfe  themfelves  by  means  of  an  elaftic 
feed-veffel,  as  oats,  geranium,  and  impaciens;  and  the  feeds  of  aquatic 
plants,  and  of  thofe  which  grow  on  the  banks  of  rivers,  are  carried  many- 
miles  by  the  currents,  into  which  they  fall.  See  Impatiens,  £oftera,  Caf- 
fia,  Carlina. 

Drofcra.  1.  ^^<).  Sun-dew.  Five  males,  five  females.  The  leaves  of 
this  marfh-plant  are  purple,  and  have  a  fringe  very  unlike  other  vegetable 
productions.  And,  which  is  curious,  at  the  point  of  every  thread  of  this 
erect  fringe  (lands  a  pellucid  drop  of  mucilage,  refembling  a  ducal  coro- 
net. This  mucus  is  a  fecretion  from  certain  glands,  and,  like  the  vifcous 
material  round  the  flower-flalks  of  Silene  (catchfly)  prevents  fmall  infects 
from  infefting  the  leaves.  As  the  ear-wax,  in  animals,  feems  to  be  in  part 
defigned  to  prevent  fleas  and  other  infects  from  getting  into  their  ears.  Sec 
Silene.  Mr.  Wheatley,  an  eminent  furgeon  in  Cateaton-ftreet,  London, 
obferved  thefe  leaves  to  bend  upwards,  when  an  infect  fettled  on  them,  like 
the  leaves  of  the  Mufcipula  Veneris,  and,  pointing  all  their  globules  of 
mucus  to  the  centre,  that  they  completely  intangled  and  deftroyed  it.  M. 
Brouflbnet, in  the  Mem.  de  1'Acad.  des  Sciences,  for  the  year  1784,  p.  615, 
after  having  defcribed  the  motion  of  the  Dionaea,  adds,  that  a  fimilar  ap- 
pearance has  been  obferved  in  the  leaves  of  two  fpecies  of  Drofera.  .,  ,,..^ 


PART  II.  D 


26  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

Fair  LONICERA  prints  the  dewy  lawn, 
And  decks  with  brighter  blufh  the  vermil  dawn ; 
Winds  round  the  fhidowy  rocks,  and  panfied  vales, 
And  fcents  with  fweeter  breath  the  fummer-gales ; 
With  artlefs  grace  and  native  eafe  fhe  charms,  245 

And  bears  the  horn  of  plenty  in  her  arms. 
Five  rival  Swains  their  tender  cares  unfold, 
And  watch  with  eye  afkince  the  treafured  gold. 

Where  rears  huge  Tenerif  his  azure  creft, 
Afpiring  DRAB  A  builds  her  eagle  neft ;  250 


Loniccra.  1.  241.  Caprifolium,  Honeyfuckle.  Five  males,  one  female. 
Nature  has,  in  many  flowers,  ufed  a  wonderful  apparatus  to  guard  the 
nectary,  or  honey-gland,  from  infects,  In  the  honeyfuckle  the  petal  ter- 
minates in  a  long  tube,  like  a  cornucopia,  or  horn  of  plenty ;  and  the  ho- 
ney is  produced  at  the  hottom  of  it.  In  Aconitum,  monks-hood,  the  nee* 
taries  ftand  upright,  like  two  horns  covered  with  a  hood,  which  abounds 
With  fuch  acrid  matter  that  no  infects  penetrate  it.  In  Helleborus,  hele- 
bore,  the  many  nectaries  are  placed  in  a  circle  like  little  pitchers,  and  add 
much  to  the  beauty  of  the  flower.  In  the  columbine,  Aquilegia,  the  nec- 
tary is  imagined  to  be  like  the  neck  and  body  of  a  bird,  and  the  two  pe- 
tals flanding  upon  each  fide  co  reprefent  wings ;  whence  its  name  of  co- 
lumbine, as  if  refemblrng  a  neft  of  young  pigeons  fluttering  whilft  their 
parent  feeds  them.  The  importance  of  the  nectary  in  the  economy  of  ve- 
getation, is  explained  at  large  in  the  notes  on  part  the  firft. 

Many  infects  are  provided  with  a  long  and  pliant  probofcis,  for  the  pur- 
pofe  of  acquiring  this  grateful  food,  as  a  variety  of  bees,  moths,  and  but- 
terflies ;  but  the  Sphinx  Convolvuli,  or  unicorn  moth,  is  filrnilhed  with  the 
moft  remarkable  probofcis  in  this  climate.  It  carries  it  rolled  up  in  con- 
centric circles  under  its  chin,  and  occafionally  extends  it  to  above  three 
inches  in  length.  This  trunk  confifts  of  joints  and  mufcles,  and  feems  to 
have  more  verfatile  movements  than  the  trunk  of  the  elephant ;  and  near 
its  termination  is  fplit  into  two  capillary  tubes.  The  excellence  of  this  con- 
trivance for  robbing  the  flowers  of  their  honey,  keeps  this  beautiful  infect 
i'at  and  bulky,  though  it  flies  only  in  the  evening,  when  the  flowers  have 
clofed  their  petals,  and  are  thence  more  difficult  of  accefs;  and,  at  the 
fame  time,  the  brilliant  colours  of  the  moth  contribute  to  its  fafcty,  by 
making  it  miftaken  by  the  late  fleeping  birds  for  the  flower  it  refts  on. 

Befides  thefe,  there  is  a  curious  contrivance  attending  the  Ophrys,  com- 
monly called  the  Bee-orchis,  and  the  Fly-orchis,  with  fome  kinds  of  the 
Delphinium,  called  Bee-larkfpurs,  to  preferve  their  honey;  in  thefe  the 
nectary  and  petals  referable,  in  form  and  colour,  the  infects  which  plunder 
them;  and  thus  it  may  be  fuppofed,  they  often  efcape  thefe  hourly  robbers, 
by  having  the  appearance  of  being  pre-occupied.  See  note  on  Rubia,  and 
Conferva  Polymorpha. 

Draba.  \.  250.  Alpina.  Alpine  Whitlow-gtafs.  One  female  and  fix 
males.  Four  of  thefe  males  ftand  above  the  other  two;  whence  the  name 
of  the  clafs  "  four  powers."  I  have  obfcrved  in  fever  al  plants  of  this  clafs, 


CANTO  I.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  27 

Her  pendant  eyry  icy  cav^s  furround, 

Where  erft  Volcanos  mined  the  rocky  ground. 

Pleafed  round  the  Fair  four  rival  Lords  afcend 

The  fhaggy  fteeps,  two  menial  youths  attend. 

High  in  the  fetting  ray  the  beauty  ftands,  255 

And  her  tall  fhadow  waves  on  diftant  lands, 

Oh  !   ftay,  bright  habitant  of  air,  alight, 
Ambitious  VISCA,  from  thy  angel-flight! — * 
— Scorning  the  fordid  foil,  aloft  (he  fprings, 
Shakes  her  white  plume,  and  claps  her  golden  wings;       260 
High  o'er  the  fields  of  boundlefs  ether  roves, 
And  feeks  amid  the  clouds  her  foaring  loves  ! 

StretchM  on  her  mofly  couch,  in  tracklefs  deeps, 
Queen  of  the  coral  groves,  ZOSTER  A  ileeps; 


that  the  two  lower  males  arife,  in  a  few  days  after  the  opening  of  the 
flower,  to  the  fame  height  as  the  other  four,  not  being  mature  as  foon  as 
the  higher  ones.  See  note  on  Gloriofa.  All  the  plants  of  this  clafs  pof- 
fefs  fimilar  virtues;  they  are  termed  acrid  and  antifcorbutic  in  their  taw 
ftate,  as  muftard,  watercrefs;  Avhtn  cultivated  and  boiled,  they  become  a 
mild  wholefome  food,  as  cabbage,  turnip. 

There  was  fromerly  a  volcano  x>n  the  Peake  of  Tenerif,  which  hecame 
extinct  about  the  year  1684.  Phil.  Tranf.  In  many  excavations  of  the 
mountain,  much  below  the  fummit,  there  is  now  found  abundance  of  ice 
at  all  feafons.  Tench's  Expedition  to  Botany-Bay,  p.  12.  Are  thefe  con- 
gelations in  confequence  of  the  daily  folution  of  the  hoar-froft,  which  is 
produced  on  the  fummit  during  the  night  ?- 

Vlfcum.  \.  258.  Mifletoe.  Two  houfes.  This  plant  never  grows  upon 
the  ground;  the  foliage  is  yellow,  and  the  berries  milk-white:  the  berries 
are  fo  vifcous  as  to  ferve  for  bird-lime ;  and  when  they  fall,  adhere  to  the 
branches  of  the  tree  on  which  the  plant  grows,  and  ftrikc  root  into  its 
bark,  or  are  carried  to  diftant  trees  by  birds.  The  Tillandfia,  or  wild  pine, 
grows  on  other  trees,  like  the  Mifletoe,  but  takes  little  or  no  nourifliment 
from  them,  having  large  buckets  in  its  leaves  to  colled:  and  retain  the  rain- 
water. See  note  on  Dypfacus.  The  mofles,  which  grow  on  the  bark  of 
trees,  take  much  nourifliment  from  them;  hence  it  is  obferved,  that  trees 
which  are  annually  cleared  from  mofs  by  a  bruih,  grow  nearly  twice  as  faft. 
(Phil.  Tianf.)  In  the  cyder  countries  the  peafants  brulh  their  apple-trees 
annually. 

Zofera.  1.  264.  Grafs-wrack.  Clafs,  Feminine  Males.  Order,  many 
Males.  It  grows  at  the  bottom  of  the  fea,  and,  rifing  to  the  furface  when 
in  flower,  covers  many  leagues;  and  is  driven,  at  length,  to  the  (hore. 
During  its  time  of  floating  on  the  fea,  numberlefs  animals  live  on  the  under1 
furface  of  it ;  and,  being  fpecifically  lighter  than  the  fea-water,  or  being  re- 
pelled by  it,  have  legs  placed,  as  it  were,  on  their  backs,  for  the  purpofe 


fiS  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

The  filvery  fea-weed  matted  round  her  bed,  265 

And  diftant  furges  murmuring  o'er  her  head. — 

High  in  the  flood  her  azure  dome  afcends, 

The  cryftal  arch  on  cryftal  columns  bends; 

Roof'd  with  tranflucent  fhell  the  turrets  blaze, 

And  far  in  ocean  dart  their  colour'd  rays;  270 

O'er  the  white  floor  fucceflive  Shadows  move, 

As  rife  and  break  the  ruffled  waves  above. — 

Around  the  nymph  her  mermaid-trains  repair, 

And  wave  with  orient  pearl  her  radiant  hair; 

With  rapid  fins  (he  cleaves  the  watery  way,  275 

Shoots  like  a  iilver  meteor  up  to  day ; 

Sounds  a  loud  conch,  convokes  a  fcaly  band, 

Her  fea-born  lovers,  and  afcends  the  ftrand. 

E'en  round  the  pole  the  flames  of  Love  afpire, 
And  icy  bofoms  feel  the  fecret  fire  ! —  280 

Cradled  in  fnow,  and  fann'd  by  ar6lic  air, 
Shines,  gentle  BAROMETZ  !  thy  golden  hair; 

of  walking  under  it,  as  the  Scyllcea.  See  Barbut's  Genera  Vermium.  It 
i'eems  neceffary  that  the  marriages  of  plants  fliould  be  celebrated  in  the 
open  air,  either  becaufe  the  powder  of  the  anther,  or  the  mucilage  on  the 
ftigma,  or  the  refervoir  of  honey,  might  receive  injury  from  the  water. 
Air.  Needham  obferved,  that  in  the  ripe  duft  of  every  flower,  examined  by 
the  microfcope.,  fome  veficles  are  perceived,  from  which  a  fluid  had  efcaped; 
;ind  that  thole  which  ftill  retain  it,  explode  if  they  be  wetted,  like  an  eolo- 
pile  fuddenly  expofed  to  a  ftrong  heat.  Thefe  observations  have  been  ve- 
rified by  Spalhnzani  and  others.  Hence  rainy  feafons  make  a  fcarcity  of 
grain,  or  hinder  its  fecundity,  by  burfting  the  pollen  before  it  arrives  at 
the  inoifl  ftigma  of  the  flower.  Spallanzani's  Differtations,  v.  xi.  p.  321. 
Thus  the  flowers  of  the  male  Vallifneria  are  produced  under  water,  and, 
when  ripe,  detach  themfelvcs  from  the  plant,  and,  rifirsg  to  the  furface,  are 
v.'afted  by  the  air  to  the  female  flowers.  See  Vallifneria. 

Baromdz.  1.  282.  Polypodium  Barometz.  Tartarian  Lamb.  Clandef- 
tine  Marriage.  This  fpccies  of  Fern  is  a  native  of  China,  with  a  decumbent 
root,  thick,  and  every  where  covered  with  the  mod  loft  and  denle  wool, 
jntenfely  yellow.  Liu.  Spec.  Plant. 

This  curious  ftem  is  fometimes  pufhed  out  of  the  ground  in  its  horizontal 
iituation,  by  fomc  of  the  inferior  branches  of  the  root,  fo  as  to  give  it  fome 
refeinblanee  to  a  Lamb  {landing  on  four  legs;  and  has  been  faid  to  deftroy 
all  other  plants  in  its  vicinity.  Sir  Hans  Sloane  defcribes  it  under  the  name 
of  Tartarian  Lamb,  and  has  given  a  print  of  it.  Phiiof.  Tranf.  abridged, 
v.  xi.  p.  646.  but  thinks  fome  art  had  been  ufcd  to  give  it  an  animal  appear- 
ance. Dr.  Hunter,  in  his  edition  of  the  Terra  of  Evelyn,  has  given  a  more 
curious  print  of  it;,  much  refembling  a  fheep.  The  down  isufed  in  India  ex- 
ttrually  for  Hopping  haemorrhages,  and  is  culled  golden  mofs. 


CANTO  I.          LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  29 

Rooted  in  earth  each  cloven  hoof  defcends, 

And  round  and  round  her  flexile  neck  (he  bends ; 

Crops  the  grey  coral  mofs,  and  hoary  thyme,  285 

Or  laps  with  rofy  tongue  the  melting  rime ; 

Eyes  with  mute  tendernefs  her  diftant  dam, 

Or  feems  to  bleat,  a  Vegetable  Lamb. 

— So,  warm  and  buoyant  in  his  oily  mail, 

Gambols  on  feas  of  ice  the  unwieldy  Whale ;  290 

Wide-waving  fins  round  floating  iflands  urge 

His  bulk  gigantic  through  the  troubled  furge ; 

With  hideous  yawn  the  flying  fhoals  he  feeks, 

Or  clafps  with  fringe  of  horn  his  mafly  cheeks ; 

Lifts  o'er  the  tolling  wave  his  noftrils  bare,  295 

And  fpouts  pellucid  columns  into  air; 

The  filvery  arches  catch  the  fetting  beams, 

And  tranfient  rainbows  tremble  o'er  the  ftreams. 

Weak  with  nice  fenfe,  the  chafte  MIMOSA  (lands, 
From  each  rude  touch  withdraws  her  timid  hands;  300 

The  thick  downy  clothing  of  fome  vegetables  feems  defigned  to  protect 
them  from  the  injuries  of  cold,  like  the  wool  of  animals.  Thofe  bodies, 
which  are  bad  conductors  of  electricity,  are  alfo  bad  conductors  of  heat,  as 
glafs,  wax,  air.  Hence,  either  of  the  two  former  of  thefe  may  be  melted  by 
the  flame  of  a  blow-pipe  very  near  the  fingers  which  hold  it,  without  burn- 
ing them ;  and  the  laft,  by  being  confined  on  the  furface  of  animal  bodies, 
in  the  interftices  of  their  fur  or  wool,  prevents  the  efcape  of  their  natural 
warmth;  to  which  fhould  be  added,  that  the  hairs  themfeives  are  imperfeCt 
conductors.  The  fat  or  oil  of  whales,  and  other  northern  animals,  feems  de- 
figned for  the  fame  purpofe  of  preventing  the  too  fudden  efcape  of  the  heat 
of  the  body  in  cold  climates.  Snow  proteCts  vegetables  which  are  covered 
by  it  from  cold,  both  becaufe  it  is  a  bad  conductor  of  heat  itfelf,  and  con- 
tains much  air  in  its  pores.  If  a  piece  of  camphor  be  immerfed  in  a  fnow* 
ball,  except  one  extremity  of  it,  on  fetting  fire  to  this,  as  the  fnow  melts,  the 
water  becomes  abforbed  into  the  furrounding  fnow  by  capillary  attraction ; 
on  thb  account,  when  living  animals  are  buried  in  fnow,  they  are  not  moif- 
tened  by  it ;  but  the  cavity  enlarges  as  the  fnow  diffolves,  affording  them 
both  a  dry  and  warm  habitation. 

Mimofa.  1.  399.  The  fenfitive  plant.  Of  the  clafs  Polygamy,  one  houfe. 
Naturalifts  have  not  explained  the  immediate  caufe  of  the  collapfing  of  the 
ienfitive  plant;  the  leaves  meet  and  clofe  in  the  night  during  the  fleep  of  the 
plant,  or  when  expofed  to  much  cold  in  the  day-time,  in  the  fame  manner  as 
when  they  are  affected  by  external  violence,  folding  their  upper  furfaces  to- 
gether, and  in  part  over  each  other,  like  fcales  or  tiles,  fo  as  to  expofe  as  lit- 
tle of  the  upper  furface  as  may  be  to  the  air ;  but  do  not,  indeed,  collapfe 
quite  fo  far,  fince  I  have  found,  when  touched  in  the  night  during  their  fleep, 


jo  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

Oft  as  light  clouds  o'er-pafs  the  Summer-glade, 

Alarm'd  (he  trembles  at  the  moving  (hade; 

And  feels,   alive  through  all  her  tender  form, 

The  whifper'd  murmurs  of  the  gathering  ftorm; 

Shuts  her  fweet  eye-lids  to  approaching  night,  305. 

And  hails  with  frefhen'd  charms  the  rifmg  light. 

Veil'd,  with  gay  decency  and  modeft  pride, 

Slow  to  the  mofque  (lie  moves  an  eaftern  bride ;. 

There  her  foft  vows  unceafmg  love  record, 

Queen  of  the  bright  feraglio  of  her  Lord. —  310 

So  finks  or  rifes  with  the  changeful  hour 

The  liquid  filver  in  its  glafiy  tower. 

So  turns  the  needle  to  the  pole  it  loves, 

With  fine  librations  quivering  as  it  moves. 

Ail  wan  and  fhivering  in  the  leaflefs  glade  315 

The  fad  ANEMONE  reclined  her  head; 
Grief  on  her  cheeks  had  paled  the  rofeate  hue, 
And  her  fweet  eye-lids  dropp'd  with  pearly  dew. 
— "  See  from  bright  regions,  borne  on  odorous  gales, 
"  The  Swallow,  herald  of  the  fummer,  fails;  320 


they  fall  ftill  further;  efpecially  when  touched  on  the  foot-ftalks  between  the 
ftems  and  the  leaflets,  which  ieems  to  be  their  moft  fenfitive  or  irritable 
part.  Now,  as  their  fituation  after  being  expofed  to  external  violence  re- 
fembles  their  fleep,  but  with  a  greater  degree  of  collapfe,  may  it  not  be  ow- 
ing to  a  numbnefs  or  paralyfis  confequent  to  too  violent  irritation,  like  the 
faintings  of  animals  from  pain  or  fatigue?  I  kept  a  fenfitive  plant  in  a  dark 
room  till  fome  hours  after  day-break:  its  leaves  and  leaf-ftalks  were  collapfed 
as  in  its  moft  profound  fleep,  and  on  expofing  it  to  the  light,  above  twenty 
minutes  paffed  before  the  plant  was  thoroughly  awake  and  had  quite  expand- 
ed itfelf.  During  the  night  the  upper  or  fmoother  furfaces  of  the  leaves  arc 
appreffed  together ;  this  would  feem  to  fhew  that  the  office  of  this  furface  of 
the  leaf  was  to  expofe  the  fluids  of  the  plant  to  the  light  as  well  as  to  the 
air.  See  note  on  Helianthus.  Many  flowers  clofe  up  their  petals  during 
the  night.  See  note  on  vegetable  refpiration  in  Part  I. 

Anemone.  1.  316.  Many  males,  many  females.  Pliny  fays  this  flower 
never  opens  its  petals  but  when  the  wind  blows;  whence  its  name;  it  has 
properly  no  calix,  but  two  or  three  fets  of  petals,  three  in  each  fet,  which 
are  folded  over  the  ftamens  and  piflil  in  a  fmgular  and  beautiful  manner, 
and  differs  alfo  from  ranunculus  in  not  having  a  melliferous  pore  on  the  claw 
of  each  petal. 

The  Sivalloiv.  \.  320.  There  is  a  wonderful  conformity  between  the  ve- 
getation of  fome  plants,  and  the  arrival  of  certain  birds  of  paflage.  Linnzeus 
eblerves,  that  the  wood  anemone  blows  in  Sweden  on  the  arrival  of  the 


CANTO  1.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  31 

"  Breathe,  gentle  AIR  !  from  cherub-lips  impart 

*'  Thy  balmy  influence  to  my  anguifh'd  heart ; 

"  Thou,  whofe  foft  voice  calls  forth  the  tender  blooms, 

"  Whofe  pencil  paints  them,  and  whofe  breath  perfumes; 

«'  O  chafe  the  Fiend  of  Froft,  with  leaden  mace,  325 

"  Who  feals  in  death-like  fleep  my  haplefs  race ; 

"  Melt  his  hard  heart,  releafe  his  iron  hand, 

w  And  give  my  ivory  petals  to  expand. 

"  So  may  each  bud,  that  decks  the  brow  of  fpring, 

"  Shed  all  its  incenfe  on  thy  wafting  wing!" —  330 

To  her  fond  prayer  propitious  Zephyr  yields, 

Sweeps  on  his  fliding  fhell  through  azure  fields, 


fwallow ;  and  the  marfli  mary-gold,  Caltha,  when  the  cuckoo  fmgs.  Near 
the  fame  coincidence  was  obferved  in  England  by  Stillingfleet.  The  word 
Coccux  in  Greek  fignifies  both  a  young  fig  and  a  cuckoo,  which  is  fuppofed 
to  have  arifen  from  the  coincidence  of  their  appearance  in  Greece.  Perhaps 
a  fimilar  coincidence  of  appearance  in  fome  part  of  Alia  gave  occafion  to 
the  ftory  of  the  love  of  the  rofe  and  nightingale,  fo  much  celebrated  by 
the  eaftern  poets.  See  Dianthus.  The  times,  however,  of  the  appearance 
of  vegetables  in  the  fpring  feem  occafionally  to  be  influenced  by  their  ac- 
quired habits,  as  well  as  by  their  fenfibility  to  heat;  for  the  roots  of  pota- 
toes, onions,  &c.  will  germinate  with  much  lefs  heat  in  the  fpring  than  in 
the  autumn;  as  is  eafily  obfervable  where  thefe  roots  are  ftored  for  ufe;  and 
hence  malt  is  beft  made  in  the  fpring.  ad.  The  grains  and  roots  brought 
from  more  fouthern  latitudes  germinate  here  fooner  than  thofe  which  arc 
brought  from  more  northern  ones,  owing  to  their  acquired  habits.  Fordycc 
on  Agriculture.  3d.  It  was  obferved  by  one  of  the  fcholars  of  Linnxus, 
that  the  apple-trees  fent  from  hence  to  New-England  bloffomed  for  a  few 
years  too  early  for  that  climate,  and  bore  no  fruit;  but  afterwards  learnt  to 
accommodate  themfelves  to  their  new  fituation.  (Kalm's  Travels.)  4th.  The 
parts  of  animals  become  more  fenfible  to  heat  after  having  been  previoufly 
expofed  to  cold,  as  our  hands  glow  on  coming  into  the  houfe  after  having 
held  fnow  in  them:  this  feems  to  happen  to  vegetables;  for  vines  in  grape- 
houfes,  which  have  been  expofed  to  the  winter's  cold,  will  become  forwarder 
and  more  vigorous  than  thofe  which  have  been  kept  during  the  winter  in 
the  houfe.  (Kennedy  on  Gardening.)  This  accounts  for  the  very  rapid  ve- 
getation in  the  northern  latitudes  after  the  folution  of  the  fnows. 

The  increafe  of  the  irritability  of  plants  in  refped;  to  heat,  after  having 
been  previoufly  expofed  to  cold,  is  further  illuftrated  by  an  experiment  of 
Dr.  Walker's.  He  cut  apertures  into  a  birch-tree  at  different  heights ;  and 
on  the  a6th  of  March  fome  of  thefe  apertures  bled,  or  oozed  with  the  fap- 
juice,  when  the  thermometer  was  at  39 ;  which  fume  apertures  did  not  bleed 
on  the  1 3th  of  March,  when  the  thermometer  was  at  44.  The  reafon  of 
this,  I  apprehend,  was,  becaufe,  on  the  night  of  the  ajth  the  thermometer 
was  as  low  as  34;  whereas,  on  the  night  of  the  1 2th  it  was  at  41;  though 
the  ingenious  author  afcribes  it  to  another  caufe.  Tranf.  of  the  Royal  Soc. 
of  Edinburgh,  vol.  i.  p.  19. 


3a  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

O'er  her  fair  manfion  waves  his  whifpering  Wand, 

And  gives  her  ivory  petals  to  expand ; 

Gives  with  new  life  her  filial  train  to  rife,  335 

And  hail  with  kindling  fmiles  the  genial  fkies. 

So  {nines  the  Nymph  in  beauty's  bluiliing  pride, 

When  Zephyr  wafts  her  deep  calaili  afide: 

Tears  with  rude  kifs  her  bofom's  gauzy  veil, 

And  flings  the  fluttering  kerchief  to  the  gale.  340 

So  bright,  the  folding  canopy  undrawn, 

Glides  the  gilt  Landau  o'er  the  velvet  lawn, 

Of  beaux  and  belies  difplays  the  glittering  throng, 

And  foft  airs  fan  them,  as  they  roll  along. 

Where  frowning  Snowden  bends  his  dizzy  brow  345 

O'er  Conway,  liftening  to  the  furge  below ; 
Retiring  LICHEN  climbs  the  topmoft  (lone, 
And  drinks  the  aerial  folitude  alone. — 
Bright  (hine  the  ftars,  unnumber'd,  o'er  her  head, 
And  the  cold  moon-beam  gilds  her  flinty  bed  ;  350 

While  round  the  rifted  rocks  hoarfe  whirlwinds  breathe, 
And  dark  with  thunder  fail  the  clouds  beneath. — 
The  fteepy  path  her  plighted  fwain  purfues, 
And  tracks  her  light  fteps  o'er  the  imprinted  dews; 
Delighted  Hymen  gives  his  torch  to  blaze,  355 

Winds  round  the  craggs,  and  lights  the  mazy  ways; 
Sheds  o'er  their  fecret  vows  his  influence  chafte, 
And  decks  with  rofes  the  admiring  wafte. 

High  in  the  front  of  heaven  wtien  Sirius  glares, 
And  o'er  Britannia  fhakes  his  fiery  hairs :  360 

When  no  foft  fhower  defcends,  no  dew  diftills, 
Her  wave- worn  channels  dry,  and  mute  her  rills  ; 

Lichen.  1.  347.  Calcareum.  Liver-wort.  Clandeftine  Marriage.  This 
plant  is  the  firft  that  vegetates  on  naked  rocks,  covering  them  with  a  kind  of 
tnpeftry,  and  draws  its  nourifhment,  perhaps,  chiefly  from  the  air;  after  it 
perifh.es,  earth  enough  is  left  for  other  moffes  to  root  themlelves;  and  after 
fbmeages,  a  foil  is  produced  fufficient  for  the  growth  of  more  fucculent  and 
large  vegetables.  In  this  manner,  perhaps,  the  whole  earth  has  been  gra- 
dually covered  with  vegetation,  after  it  was  raifed  out  of  the  primeval  ocean 
by  fubterraneous  fires. 


£ANTO  I.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  33 

When  droops  the  fickening  herb,  the  bloflbm  fades, 

And  parch'd  eartli  gapes  beneath  the  withering  glades ; 

—With  languid  ftep  fair  DYPSACA  retreats,  365 

"  Fall,  gentle  dews!"  the  fainting  nymph  repeats, 

Seeks  the  low  dell,  and  in  the  fultry  fliade 

Invokes,  in  vain,  the  Naiads  to  her  aid. —  s 

Four  fylvan  youths  in  cryftal  goblets  bear 

The  untafted  treafure  to  the  grateful  fair;  37° 

Pleafed,  from  their  hands  with  modeft  grace  fhe  fips* 

And  the  cool  wave  reflects  her  coral  lips. 

With  nice  feleclion  modeft  RUBIA  blends 
Her  vermil  dyes,  and  o'er  the  cauldron  bends; 

Dypfacus.  1.  365.  Teafel.  One  female  and  four  males.  There  is  a  cup 
around  every  joint  of  the  item  of  this  plant,  which  contains  from  a  fpoonfui 
tolialf  a  pint  of  wa^er;  and  ferves  both  for  the  nutriment  of  the  plant  in 
dry  feafons,  and  to^revent  infects  from  creeping  up  to  devour  its  feed.  Sec 
Silene.  The  Tiflandfia,  or  wild  pine  of  the  Weft-Indies,  has  every  leaf 
terminated  near  the  ftalk  with  a  hollow  bucket,  which  contains  from  half  a 
pint  to  a  quart  of  water.  Dampier's  Voyage  to  Campeachy.  Dr.  Sloane 
mentions  one  kind  of  aloe  furnifhed  with  leaves,  which,  like  the  wild  pine 
and  Banana,  hold  water;  and  thence  afford  necefiary  refrelhment  to  travel- 
lers in  hot  countries.  Nepenthes  has.  a  bucket,  for  the  fame  purpofe,  at  the 
end  of  every  leaf.  Burm.  Zeyl.  42.  17. 

Rubla.  1.  373.  Madder.  Four  males  and  one  female.  This  plant  is 
cultivated  in  very  large  quantities  for  dying  red.  If  mixed  with  the  food  of 
young  pigs  or  chickens,  it  colours  their  bones  red.  If  they  are  fed  alternate 
fortnights  with  a  mixture  of  madder,  and  with  their  ufual  food  alone,  their 
bones  will  confift  of  concentric  circles  of  white  and  red.  Belchier.  Phil. 
Tranf.'i736.  Animals  fed  with  madder,  for  the  purpofe  of  thefe  experi- 
ments, were  found,  upon  difleclion,  to  have  thinner  gall.  Comment,  de 
rebus.  Lipfiae.  This  circumflance  is  worth  farther  attention.  The  colour- 
ing materials  of  vegetables,  like  thofe  which  ferve  the  purpofe  of  tanning, 
varnifhing,  and  the  various  medicinal  purpofes,  do  not  feem  eflential  to  the 
life  of  the  plant ;  but  feem  given  it  as  a  defence  againft  the  depredations  of 
infeds,  or  other  animals,  to  whom  thefe  materials  are  naufeous  or  deleteri- 
ous. The  colours  of  infects,  and  many  fmaller  animals,  contribute  to  con- 
ceal them  from  the  larger  ones  which  prey  upon  them.  Caterpillars,  which 
feed  on  leaves,  are  generally  green;  and  earth-worms  the  colour  of  the  earth 
which  they  inhabit;  butterflies,  which  frequent  flowers,  arc  coloured  like 
them;  fmall  birds,  which  frequent  hedges,  have  greenifli  backs  like  the 
leaves,  and  light  coloured  bellies  like  the  Iky,  and  are  hence  lefs  vifible  to 
the  hawk,  who  paffes  under  them  or  over  them.  Thofe  birds  which  are 
much  amongft  flowers,  as  the  goldfinch  (Fringjlla  Cr.rduelis),  are  furnilhed 
with  vivid  colours.  The  lark,  partridge,  hare,  are  the  colour  of  dry 
vegetables,  or  earth  on  which  they  reft.  And  frogs  vary  their  colour  with 
the  mud  of  the  ftreams  which  they  frequent;  and  thofe  which  live  on  trees 
are  green.  Filh,  which  are  generally  fufpended  in  water,  and  fwallows, 

PART  II.  E 


34  BOTANIC  GARDEN,  PART  IL 

Warm,  mid  the  rifing  fteam,  the  Beauty  glows,  375 

As  blumes  in  a  mift  the  dewy  rofe. 

With  chemic  art  four  favour'd  youths  aloof 

Stain  the  white  fleece,  or  ftretch  the  tinted  woof; 

O'er  Age's  cheek  the  warmth  of  youth  diffufe, 

Or  deck  the  pale-eyed  nymph  in  rofeate  hues.  380 

So  when  MEDEA  to  exulting  Greece 

From  plunder**)  COLCHIS  bore  the  golden  fleece; 

On  the  loud  fhore  a  magic  pile  fhe  rais'd, 

The  cauldron  bubbled,  and  the  faggots  blaz'd  $ 

Pleafed,  on  the  boiling  wave  old  .^£SON  fwims,  385 

And  feels  new  vigour  flretch  his  fwelling  limbs ; 

Through  his  thrill'd  nerves  forgotten  ardors  dart, 

And  warmer  eddies  circle  round  his  heart; 

With  fofter  fires  his  kindling  eye-balls  glow, 

And  darker  trefles  wanton  round  his  brow.  390 

As  dafh  the  waves  on  India's  breezy  flrand, 
Her  rlufh'd  cheek  prefs'd  upon  her  lily  hand, 
VALLISNER  fits,  up-turns  her  tearful  eyes, 
Calls  her  loft  lover,  and  upbraids  the  fkies ; 

which  are  generally  fufpended  in  zir,  have  their  tucks  the  colour  of  the  dif- 
tant  ground,  and  their  hellies  of  the  fky.  In  the  colder  climates  many  of 
thefe  become  white  during  the  exiftence  of  the  fnows.  Hence  there  is  ap- 
parent defign  in  the  colours  of  animals,  whilft  thofe  of  vegetables  feem  con- 
iequent  to  the  other  properties  of  the  materials  which  poffefs  them. 

Pleafed,  on  the  boiling  ivave.  1.  385.  The  ftory  of  JEfon  becoming  young, 
from  the  medicated  bath  of  Medea,  feems  to  have  been  intended  to  teach 
the  efficacy  of  warm  bathing  in  retarding  the  progrefs  of  old  age.  The 
words  relaxation  and  bracing,  which  are  generally  thought  expreffive  of  the 
effects  of  warm  and  cold  bathing,  are  mechanical  terms,  properly  applied 
to  drums  or  firings;  but  are  only  metaphors  when  applied  to  the  effects  of 
cold  or  warm  bathing  on  animal  bodies.  The  immediate  caufe  of  old  age 
feems  to  refide  in  the  inirritability  of  the  finer  veffels,  or  parts  of  our  fyf- 
tem;  hence  thefe  ceafe  to  act,  andcollapfe,  or  become  horny  or  bony.  The 
warm  bath  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  prevent  thefe  circumftances  by  its  in- 
creafing  our  irritability,  and  by  moiftening  and  foftening  the  fkin,  and  the 
extremities  of  the  finer  veffels,  which  terminate  in  it.  To  thofe  who  arc 
paft  the  meridian  of  life,  and  have  dry  (kins,  and  begin  to  be  emaciated, 
the  warm  bath,  for  half  an  hour  twice  a  week,  I  believe  to  be  eminently 
lerviceable  in  retarding  the  advances  of  age. 

Valllfnerla.  \.  393.  This  extraordinary  plant  is  of  the  clafs  Two  Houfes. 
It  is  found  in  the  Eait-Tndies,  in  Norway,  and  various  parts  of  Italy.  Lin, 
Spec.  Plant.  They  have  their  roots  at  the  bottom  of  the  Rhone;  the  flower.'* 


CANTO  I.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  35 

For  him  me  breathes  the  filent  figh,  forlorn,  395 

Each  fetting  day  ;  for  him  each  rifing  morn. — 

"  Bright  orbs,  that  light  yon  high  etherial  plain, 

"  Or  bathe  your  radiant  trefles  in  the  main ; 

"  Pale  moon,  that  filver'ft  o'er  night's  fable  brow; — 

"  For  ye  were  witnefs  to  his  parting  vow  !  400 

"  Ye  (helving  rocks,  dark  waves,  and  founding  (here, — • 

"  Ye  echoed  fweet  the  tender  words  he  fwore  ! — 

"'  Can  ftars  or  feas  the  fails  of  love  retain  ? 

"  O  guide  my  wanderer  to  my  arms  again !" 

Her  buoyant  fkiff  intrepid  ULVA  guides,  405 

And  feeks  her  Lord  amid  the  tracklefs  tides ; 

of  the  female  plant  float  on  the  furface  of  the  water,  and  are  furnifhed  with 
an  elaftic  fpiral  {talk,  which  extends,  or  contracts,  as  the  water  rifes  and 
.falls.  This  rife  or  fall,  from  the  rapid  defcent  of  the  river,  and  the  moun- 
tain torrents  which  flow  into  it,  often  amounts  to  many  feet  in  a  few  hours. 
The  flowers  of  the  male  plant  are  produced  under  water,  and  as  foon  as 
their  farina,  or  duft,  is  mature,  they  detach  themfelves  from  the  plant,  and 
rife  to  the  furface,  continue  to  flourish,  and  are  wafted  by  the  air,  or  borne 
by  the  currents  to  the  female  flowers.  In  thfis  refembling  thofe  tribes  of  in- 
fects, where  the  "males  at  certain  feafons  acquire  wings,  but  net  the  females, 
as  ants,  Coccus,  Lampyris,  Phalaena,  Brumata,  Lichanella.  Thefe  male 
flowers  are  in  fuch  numbers,  though  very  minute,  as  frequently  to  cover  the 
furface  of  the  river  to  confiderable  extent.  See  Families  of  Plants,  tranflated 
from  Linnaeus,  p.  677. 

Ulva.  1.  405.  Clandeftine  Marriage.  This  kind  of  fea-weed  is  buoyed 
up  by  bladders  of  air,  which  are  formed  in  t>he  duplicatures  of  its  leaves, 
and  forms  immenfe  floating  fields  of  vegetation ;  the  young  ones,  branching 
out  from  the  larger  ones,  and  borne  on  fimilar  little  air-veffels.  It  is  alfo 
found  in  the  warm  baths  of  Patavia;  where  the  leaves  are  formed  into  curi- 
ous cells  or  labyrinths,  for  the  purpofe  of  floating  on  the  water.  See  ulva 
labyrinthi-formis  Lin.  Spec.  Plant.  The  air  contained  in  thefe  cells  was 
found  by  Dr.  Prieftley  to  be  fometimes  purer  than  common  air,  and  fome- 
times  lefs  pure ;  the  air-bladders  of  fifli  feem  to  be  fimilar  organs,  and  ferve 
to  render  them  buoyant  in  the  water.  In  fome  of  thefe,  as  in  the  Cod  and 
Haddock,  a  red  membrane,  confifting  of  a  great  number  of  leaves  or  dupli- 
catures, is  found  within  the  air-bag,  which  probably  fecretes  this  air  from 
the  blood  c^the  animal.  (Monro.  Phyfiol.  of  Fifh,  p.  28.)  To  determine 
whether  this  air,  when  firfl  feparated  from  the  blood  of  the  animal  or  plant, 
be  dephlogifticated  air,  is  worthy  inquiry.  The  bladder-fena  (Colutea), 
and  bladder-nut  (Staphylsea),  have  their  feed-vcffels  diftended  with  air;  the 
Ketmia  has  the  upper  joint  of  the  ftem  immediately  under  the  receptacle  of 
the  flower,  much  diftended  with  air :  thefe  feem  to  be  analogous  to  the  air- 
veflel  at  the  broad  end  of  the  egg,  and  may,  probably,  become  lefs  pure  as 
the  feed  ripens:  fome,  which  I  tried,  had  the  purity  of  the  furrounding  at- 
mofphere.  The  air  at  the  broad  end  of  the  egg  is  probably  an  organ  ferv- 
ing  the  purpofe  of  refpiration  to  the  young  chick ;  fome  of  whofe  veffels  arc 


36  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

Her  fee-ret  vows  the  Cyprian  Queen  approves, 

And  hovering  Halcyons  guard  her  infant-loves ; 

Each  in  his  floating  cradle,  round  they  throng, 

And  dimpling  Ocean  bears  the  fleet  along. —  4IG 

Thus  o'er  the  waves,  which  gently  bend  and  fwell, 

Fair  GALATEA  fteers  her  filver  fliell ; 

Her  playful  Dolphins  ftretch  the  filken  rein, 

Hear  her  fweet  voice,  and  glide  along  the  main. 

As  round  the  wild  meandering  coaft  flie  moves  415 

By  gufhing  rills,  rude  cliffs,  and  nodding  groves; 

Each  by  her  pine,  the  Wood-nymphs  wave  their  locks, 

&nd  wondering  Naiads  peep  amid  the  rocks ; 

Pleafed  trains  of  Mermaids  rife  from  coral  cells ; 

Admiring  Tritons  found  their  twifted  {hells ;  420 

CharnVd  o'er  the  car  purfuing  Cupids  fweep, 

Their  fnow- white  pinions  twinkling  in  the  deep; 

And,  as  the  luftre  of  her  eye  fhe  turns, 

Soft  fighs  the  Gale,  and  amorous  Ocean  burns. 

On  DOVE'S  green  brink  the  fair  TREMELLA  flood,  425 
And  view'd  her  playful  image  in  the  flood ; 

fpread  upon  it  like  a  placenta,  or  permeate  it.  Many  are  of  opinion  that 
even  the  placenta  of  the  human  foetus,  and  cotyledons  of  quadrupeds,  arc 
refpiratory  organs  rather  than  nutritious  ones. 

The  air  in  the  hollow  ftems  of  grafles,  and  of  fome  umbelliferous  plants, 
bears  analogy  to  the  air  in  the  quills,  and  in  fome  of  the  bones  of  birds ;  fup- 
plying  the  place  of  the  pith,  which  flirivels  up  after  it  has  performed  its 
ofiice  of  protruding  the  young  ftem  or  feather.  Some  of  thefe  cavities  of  the 
bones  are  faid  to  communicate  with  the  lungs  in  birds.  Phil.  Tranf. 

The  air-bladders  of  fiih  are  nicely  adapted  to  their  intended  purpofe;  for 
though  they  render  them  buoyant  near  the  furface,  without  the  labour  of 
ufmg  their  fins,-  yet,  when  they  reft  at  greater  depths,  they  are  no  incon- 
venience, as  the  increafed  preffure  of  the  water  condenies  the  air  which  they 
contain,  into  lefs  fpace.  Thus,  if  a  cork  or  bladder  of  air  was  immerfed  a 
very  great  depth  in  the  ocean,  it  Mfould  be  fo  much  compreffed,  as  to  become 
fpecifically  as  heavy  as  the  water,  and  would  remain  there.  It  is  probable 
the  unfortunate  Mr.  Day,  who  was  drowned  in  a  diving-fhip  of  his  own 
conftru&ion,  mifcarried  from  not  attending  to  this  circumftance:  it  is  pro- 
bable the  quantity  of  air  he  took  down  with  him,  if  he  defcended  much 
lower  than  he  expected,  was  condenfed  into  fo  fmall  a  fpace  as  not  to  render 
the  fliip  buoyant  when  he  endeavoured  to  afcend. 

Tremella.  1.  435.  Clandefline  marriage.  I  have  frequently  obferved  fun- 
guffes  of  this  Genus  on  old  rails,  and  on  the  ground,  to  become  a  tranfpa- 
rent  jelly,  after  they  had  been  frozen  in  autumnal  mornings;  which  is  a  cu- 
rious property,'  and  difllnguifhes  them  from  fome  other  vegetable  mucilage* 


CANTO  I.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  37 

To  each  rude  rock,  lone  dell,  and  echoing  grove, 

Sung  the  fweet  forrows  of  her  fecret  love. 

"  Oh,  ftay  ! — return!" — along  the  founding  fhore 

Cry'd  the  fad  Naiads, — llie  return'd  no  more ! —  43$ 

Now  girt  with  clouds  the  fullen  Evening  frown'd, 

And  withering  Eurus  fwept  along  the  ground ; 

The  mifty  moon  withdrew  her  horned  light, » 

And  funk  with  Hefper  in  the  Ikirt  of  night ; 

No  dim  electric  flreams,  (the  northern  dawn)  435 

With  meek  effulgence  quiver'd  o'er  the  lawn; 

No  ftar  benignant  {hot  one  tranfient  ray 

To  guide  or  light  the  wanderer  on  her  way. 

Round  the  dark  craggs  the  murmuring  whirlwinds  blow, 

Woods  groan  above,  and  waters  roar  below ;  440 

As  o'er  the  fteeps  with  paufmg  foot  fhe  moves, 

The  pitying  Dryads  ihriek  amid  their  groves. 

She  flies — fhe  flops — fhe  pants — (he  looks  behind, 

And  hears  a  demon  howl  in  every  wind, 

— As  the  bleak  blaft  unfurls  her  fluttering  veft,  445 

Cold  beats  the  fnow  upon  her  fhuddering  breaft  \ 

for  I  have  obferved  that  the  pafle  made  by  boiling  wheat-flour  in  water, 
ceafes  to  be  adhefive  after  having  been  frozen.  I  fufpeded  that  the  Tremella 
Noftoc,  or  ftar-jelly,  alfo  had  been  thus  produced;  but  have  fmce  been  well 
informed,  that  the  Tremella  Noftoc  is  a  mucilage  voided  by  Herons  after 
they  have  eaten  frogs;  hence  it  has  the  appearance  of  having  been  prefled 
through  a  hole ;  and  limbs  of  frogs  are  faid  fometimes  to  be  found  amongft 
it :  it  is  always  feen  upon  plains,  or  by  the  fides  of  water,  places  which 
Herons  generally  frequent. 

Some  of  the  funguffes  are  fo  acrid,  that  a  drop  of  their  juice  blifters  the 
tongue;  others  intoxicate  thofe  who  eat  them.  The  Oftiacks,  in  Siberia, 
ufe  them  for  the  latter  purpofe ;  one  fungus  of  the  fpecies  Agaricus  Mufca- 
rum,  eaten  raw,  or  the  decoction  of  three  of  them,  produces  intoxication 
for  12  or  1 6  hours.  Hiftoryof  Ruffia,  vol.  i.  Nichols.  1780.  As  all  acrid 
plants  become  lefs  fo,  if  expofed  to  a  boiling  heat,  it  is  probable  the  com- 
mon muihroom  may  fometimes  difagree  from  being  not  fufficiently  ftewed. 
The  OiHacks  blifler  their  {kin  by  a  fungus  found  on  Birch-trees;  and  ufe  the 
Agaricus  officin.  for  Soap.  Ib. 

There  was  a  difpute  whether  the  fungufles  fhould  be  claffed  in  the  animal 
or  vegetable  department.  Their  animal  tafte  in  cookery,  and  their  animal 
fmell  when  burnt,  together  with  their  tendency  to  putrefadion,  infomuch 
that  the  Phallus  impudicus  has  gained  the  name  of  ftink-horn  ;  and,  laftly, 
their  growing  and  continuing  healthy  without  light,  as  the  Licoperdon  tu- 
ber or  truffle,  and  the  fungus  vinofus  or  mucor  in  dark  cellars,  and  the  ci- 
culent  mufhrobms  on  beds  covered  thick  with  ftraw,  would  feem  to  fliew 
that  they  approach  towards  the  animals,  or  make  a  kind  of  ifthmus,  con- 
ceding the  two  m'ghty  kingdoms  of  animal  and  of  vegetable  nature. 


|§  BOTANIC  GARDEN,  PART  II 

Through  her  numb'd  limbs  the  chill  fenfations  dart, 

And  the  keen  ice-bolt  trembles  at  her  heart. 

"  I  fink,  I  fall !  oh,  help  me,  help  !"  me  cries, 

Her  ftiflrening  tongue  the  unfinifhed  found  denies ;  450 

Tear  after  tear  adown  her  cheek  fucceeds, 

And  pearls  of  ice  beftrew  the  glittering  meads; 

Congealing  mows  her  lingering  feet  lurround, 

Arreft  her  flight,  and  root  her  to  the  ground  ; 

With  fuppliant  arms  me  pours  the  filent  prayer ;  455 

Her  fuppliant  arms  hang  cfyftal  in  the  air ; 

Pellucid  films  her  fhivering  neck  o'erfpread, 

Seal  her  mute  lips,  and  filver  o'er  her  head ; 

Veil  her  pale  bofom,  glaze  her  lifted  hands, 

And,  mrined  in  ice,  the  beauteous  ftatue  ftands.  460 

• — DOVE'S  azure  nymphs,  on  each  revolving  year, 

For  fair  TREMELLA  med  the  tender  tear  ; 

With  rum-wove  crowns  in  fad  proceflion  move, 

And  found  the  forrowing  fhell  to  haplefs  love." 

Here  paufed  the  Musi:, — acrofs  the  darken'd  pole        465 
Sail  the  dim  clouds,  the  echoing  thunders  roll ; 
The  trembling  Wood-nymphs,  as  the  tempefl  lowers, 
Lead  the  gay  Goddefs  to  their  inmoft  bowers ; 
Hang  the  mute  lyre,  the  laurel  made  beneath, 
And  round  her  temples  bind  the  myrtle  wreath.  470 

—Now  the  light  fwallow,  with  her  airy  brood, 
Skims  the  green  meadow,  and  the  dimpled  flood ; 
Loud  fhrieks  the  lone  thrum,  from  his  leaflefs  thorn, 
Th'  alarmed  beetle  founds  his  bugle  horn ; 
Each  pendant  fpider  winds  with  ringers  fine  475 

His  ravel'd  clue,  and  climbs  along  the  line ; 
Gay  Gnomes  in  glittering  circles  ftand  aloof, 
Beneath  a  fpreading  mumroom's  fretted  roof; 
Swift  bees,  returning,  feek  their  waxen  cells, 
And  Sylphs  cling,  quivering,  in  the  lily's  bells.  480 

Through  the  ftill  air  defcend  the  genial  mowers, 
And  pearly  rain-drops  deck  the  laughing  flowers. 


INTERLUDE    I. 


Bookseller.     I  OUR  verses,  Mr.  Botanist,  consist  of  jiurc  descriji~ 
tion;  1  hope  there  is  sense  in  the  notes. 

Poet.  I  am  only  a  flower- painter,  or  occasionally  attempt  a 
landskip  ;  and  leave  the  human  figure,  with  the  subjects  of  history, 
to  abler  artists. 

B.  It  is  well  to  know  what  subjects  are  within  the  limits  of 
your  pencil ;  many  have  failed  of  success  from  the  want  of  this  self- 
knowledge.  But  pray  tell  rne,  what  is  the  essential  difference  be- 
tween Poetry  and  Prose?  is  it  solely  the  melody  or  measure  of  the 
Janguage  ? 

P.  I  think  not  solely ;  for  some  prose  has  its  melody,  and  even 
measure.  And  good  verses,  well  spoken  in  a  language  unknown 
to  the  hearer,  are  not  easily  to  be  distinguished  from  good  prose. 

B.    Is  it  the  sublimity,  beauty,  or  novelty  of  the  sentiments? 

P.  Not  so ;  for  sublime  sentiments  are  often  better  expressed 
in  prose.  Thus  when  Warwick,  in  one  of  the  plays  of  Shake- 
speare, is  left  wounded  on  the  field,  after  the  loss  of  the  battle, 
and  his  friend  says  to  him,  "  Q,  could  you  but  fly!"  what  can 
be  more  sublime  than  this  answer,  "  Why,  then,  I  would  not 
fly."  No  measure  of  verse,  I  imagine,  could  add  dignity  to  this 
sentiment.  And  it  would  be  easy  to  select  examples  of  the  beau- 
tiful or  new  from  prose  writers,  which,  I  suppose,  no  measure  of 
verse  could  improve. 

B.  In  what,  then,  consists  the  essential  difference  between 
Poetry  and  Prose? 

P.  Next  to  the  measure  of  the  language,  the  principal  dis^ 
tinction  appears  to  me  to  consist  in  this:  that  Poetry  admits  of 
but  few  words  expressive  of  very  abstracted  ideas,  whereas  Prose 
abounds  with  them.  And  as  our  ideas  derived  from  visible  ob- 
jects are  more  distinct  than  those  derived  from  the  objects  of  our 
other  senses,  the  words  expressive  of  these  ideas  belonging  to  vi- 
sion, make  up  the  principal  part  of  poetic  language.  That  is, 


40  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

the  Poet  writes  principally  to  the  eye,  the  Prose  writer  uses  more 
abstracted  terms.  Mr.  Pope  has  written  a  bad  verse  in  the  Wind- 
sor Forest : 

"  And  Kennet  swift  for  silver  Eels  renown*  d" 

The  word  renown'd  does  not  present  the  idea  of  a  visible  object 
to  the  mind,  and  is  thnece  prosaic.  But  change  this  line  thus: 

"  And  Kennet  swift,  where  silver  Graylings  filay," 

and  it  becomes  poetry,  because  the  scenery  is  then  brought  before 
the  eye. 

B.    This  may  be  done  in  prose. 

P. .  And  when  it  is  done  in  a  single  word,  it  animates  the  prose; 
so  it  is  more  agreeable  to  read  in  Mr.  Gibbon's  History,  "  Ger- 
many was  at  this  time  over-shadowed  with  extensive  forests,"  than 
Germany  was  at  this  time  full  of  extensive  forests.  But  where 
this  mode  of  expression  occurs  too  frequently,  the  prose  approaches 
to  poetry :  and  in  graver  works,  where  we  expect  to  be  instructed 
rather  than  amused,  it  becomes  tedious  and  impertinent.  Some 
parts  of  Mr.  Burke's  eloquent  orations  become  intricate  and  ener- 
vated by  superfluity  of  poetic  ornament;  which  quantity  of  orna- 
ment would  have  been  agreeable  in  a  poem,  where  much  orna- 
ment is  expected. 

B.    Is,  then,  the  office  of  Poetry  only  to  amuse? 

P.  The  Muses  are  young  Ladies;  we  expect  to  see  them  dres- 
sed ;  though  not  like  some  modern  beauties,  with  so  much  gauze 
and  feather,  that  "  the  Lady  herself  is  the  least  part  of  her." 
There  are,  however,  didactic  pieces  of  poetry,  which  are  much 
admired,  as  the  Georgics  of  Virgil,  Mason's  English  Garden, 
Haley's  Epistles;  nevertheless,  Science  is  best  delivered  in  prose, 
as  its  mode  of  reasoning  is  from  stricter  analogies  than  metaphors 
or  similies. 

B.    Do  not  Personifications  and  Allegories  distinguish- Poetry  ? 

P.  These  are  other  arts  of  bringing  objects  before  the  eye;  or 
of  expressing  sentiments  in  the  language  of  vision  •  and  are,  in- 
deed, better  suited  to  the  pen  than  the  pencil. 

B.  That  is  strange,  when  you  have  just  said  they  are  used  to 
bring  their  objects  before  the  eye. 

P.  In  Poetry  the  personification  or  allegoric  figure  is  generally 


INTERLUDE  I.  41 

mdistinct,  and  therefore  does  not  strike  us  so  forcibly  as  to  make 
us  attend  to -its  improbability;  but  in  painting,  the  figures  being 
all  much  more  distinct,  their  improbability  becomes  apparent, 
and  seizes  our  attention  to  it.  Thus  the  person  of  Concealment 
is  very  indistinct,  and  therefore  does  not  compel  us  to  attend  to  its 
improbability,  in  the  following  beautiful  lines  of  Shakespeare: 

" She  never  told  her  love; 


But  let  Concealment,  like  a  worm  i*  th'  bud, 
Feed  on  her  damask  cheek." 

Bat" in  these  lines  below  the  person  of  Reason  obtrudes  itself  into 
our  company,  and  becomes  disagreeable  by  its  distinctness,  and 
consequent  improbability : 

"  To  Reason  I  flew,  and  intreated  her  aid, 

Who  paused  on  my  case,  and  each  circumstance  weigh'd; 

Then  gravely  reply'd,  in  return  to  my  prayer, 

That  Hebe  was  fairest  of  all  that  were  fair. 

That's  a  truth,  reply'd  I,  I've  no  need  to  be  taught, 

I  came  to  you,  Reason,  to  find  out  a  fault. 

If  that's  all,  says  Reason,  return  as  you  came, 

To  find  fault  with  Hebe  would  forfeit  my  name." 

Allegoric  figures  are,  on  this  account,  in  general,  less  manage- 
able in  painting  and  in  statuary  than  in  poetry ;  and  can  seldom 
be  introduced  in  the  two  former  arts  in  company  with  natural 
figures,  as  is  evident  from  the  ridiculous  effect  of  many  of  the 
paintings  of  Rubens,  in  the  Luxemburgh  gallery;  and  for  this 
reason,  because  their  improbability  becomes  more  striking,  when 
there  are  the. figures  of  real  persons  by  their  side  to  compare 
them  with. 

Mrs.  Angelica  Kauffman,  well  apprised  of  this  circumstance, 
has  introduced  no  mortal  figures  amongst  her  Cupids  and  her 
Graces.  And  the  great  Roubiliac,  in  his  unrivalled  monument 
of  Time  and  Fame  struggling  for  the  trophy  of  General  Wade, 
has  only  hung  up  a  medallion  of  the  head  of  the  hero  of  the  piece. 
There  are,  however,  some  allegoric  figures,  which  we  have  so 
often  heard  .described  or  seen  delineated,  that  we  almost  forget 
that  they  do  not  exist  in  common  life;  and  thence  view  them 
without  astonishment;  as  the  figures  of  the  heathen  mythology, 

PART  II.  F 


4»  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  it 

of  angels,  devils,  death,  and  time;  and  almost  believe  them  to 
be  realities,  even  when  they  are  mixed  with  representations  of  the 
natural  forms  of  man.  Whence  I  conclude,  that  a  certain  degree 
of  probability  is  necessary  to  prevent  us  from  revolting  with  dis- 
taste from  unnatural  images,  unless  we  are  otherwise  so  much  in- 
terested in  the  contemplation  of  them  as  not  to  perceive  their  im- 
probability. 

B.  Is  this  reasoning  about  degrees  of  probability  just? — When 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  who  is  unequalled  both  in  the  theory  and 
practice  of  his  art,  and  who  is  a  great  master  of  the  pen  as  well 
as  the  pencil,  has  asserted,  in  a  discourse  delivered  to  the  Royal 
Academy,  December  1 i,  1786,  that  "  the  higher  styles  of  paint- 
ing, like  the  higher  kinds  of  the  Drama,  do  not  aim  at  any  thing 
like  deception ;  or  have  any  expectation  that  the  spectators  should 
think  the  events  there  represented  as  really  passing  before  them." 
And  he  then  accuses  Mr.  Fielding  of  bad  judgment,  when  he  at- 
tempts to  compliment  Mr.  Garrick  in  one  of  his  novels,  by  in- 
troducing an  ignorant  man,  mistaking  the  representation  of  a  scene 
in  Hamlet  for  a  reality ;  and  thinks,  because  he  was  an  ignorant 
man,  he  was  less  liable  to  make  such  a  mistake. 

P.  It  is  a  metaphysical  question,  and  requires  more  attention 
than  Sir  Joshua  has  bestowed  upon  it* — You  will  allow  that  we 
are  perfectly  deceived  in  our  dreams:  and  that  even  in  our  wak- 
ing reveries,  we  are  often  so  much  absorbed  in  the  contemplation 
of  what  passes  in  our  imaginations,  that,  for  a  while,  we  do  not 
attend  to  the  lapse  of  time,  or  to  our  own  locality;  and  thus  suf- 
fer a  similar  kind  of  deception,  as  in  our  dreams.  That  is,  we 
believe  things  present  before  our  eyes,  which  are  not  so. 

There  are  two  circumstances  which  contribute  to  this  complete 
deception  in  our  dreams:  First,  because,  in  sleep,  the  organs  of 
sense  are  closed  or  inert,  and  hence  the  trains  of  ideas  associated  in 
our  imaginations  are  never  interrupted  or  dissevered  by  the  irrita- 
tions of  external  objects,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  contrasted  with 
our  sensations.  On  this  account,  though  we  are  affected  with  a  va- 
riety of  passions  in  our  dreams,  as  anger,  love,  joy,  yet  we  never 
experience  surprize.  For  surprize  is  only  produced  when  any  ex- 
ternal irritations  suddenly  obtrude  themselves,  and  dissever  our 
passing  trains  of  ideas. 

Secondly,  because,  in  sleep^  there  is  a  total  suspension  of  our 
voluntary  power,  both  over  the  muscles  of  our  bodies,  and  the 
ideas  of  our  minds ;  for  we  neither  walk  about,  nor  reason  in  com- 


INTERLUDE  I.  43 

plete  sleep.  Hence,  as  the  trains  of  our  ideas  are  passing  in  our 
imaginations  in  dreams,  we  cannot  compare  them  with  our  pre- 
vious knowledge  of  things,  as  we  do  in  our  waking  hours;  for 
this  is  a  voluntary  exertion,  and  thus  we  cannot  perceive  their  in- 
congruity. 

Thus  we  are  deprived,  in  sleep,  of  the  only  two  means  by 
which  we  can  distinguish  the  trains  of  ideas  passing  in  our  ima- 
ginations, from  those  excited  by  our  sensations;  and  are  led  by 
their  vivacity  to  believe  them  to  belong  to  the  latter.  For  the  vi- 
vacity of  these  trains  of  ideas,  passing  in  the  imagination,  is  greatly 
increased  by  the  causes  above-mentioned ;  that  is,  by  their  not 
being  disturbed  or  dissevered  either  by  the  appulses  of  external 
bodies,  as  in  surprize,  or  by  our  voluntary  exertions  in  compar- 
ing them  with  our  previous  knowledge  of  things,  as  in  reasoning 
upon  them.  -  t 

B.    Now  to  apply. 

P.  When,  by  the  art  of  the  Painter  or  Poet,  a  train  of  ideas  is 
suggested  to  our  imaginations,  which  interests  us  so  much  by  the 
pain  or  pleasure  it  affords,  that  we  cease  to  attend  to  the  irritations 
of  common  external  objects,  and  cease  also  to  use  any  voluntary 
efforts  to  compare  these  interesting  trains  of  ideas  with  our. 
previous  knowledge  of  things,  a  complete  reverie  is  produced : 
during  which  time,  however  short,  if  it  be  but  for  a  moment,  the 
objects  themselves  appear  to  exist  before  us.  This,  I  think,  has 
been  called,  by  an  ingenious  critic,  "  the  ideal  presence"  of  such 
objects,  (Elements  of  Criticism,  by  Lord  Kaimes.)  And  in  re- 
spect to  the  compliment  intended  by  Mr.  Fielding  to  Mr.  Garrick, 
it  would  seem  that  an  ignorant  rustic  at  the  play  of  Hamlet,  who 
has  some  previous  belief  in  the  appearance  of  Ghosts,  would 
sooner  be  liable  to  fall  into  a  reverie,  and  continue  in  it  longer, 
than  one  who  possessed  more  knowledge  of  the  real  nature  ot 
things,  and  had  a  greater  facility  of  exercising  his  reason. 

B.  It  must  require  great  art  in  the  Painter  or  Poet  to  produce 
this  kind  of  deception. 

P.  The  matter  must  be  interesting  from  its  sublimity,  beauty, 
or  novelty;  this  is  the  scientific  part;  and  the  art  consists  in  bring- 
ing these  distinctly  before  the  eye,  so  as  to  produce  (as  above- 
mentioned)  the  ideal  presence  of  the  object,  in  which  the  great 
Shakespeare  particularly  excells. 

B.  Then  it  is  not  of  any  consequence  whether  the  representa* 
tions  correspond  with  nature? 


44  BOTANIC  GARMN.  PART  II. 

P.  Not  if  they  so  much  interest  the  reader  or  spectator  as  to 
induce  the  reverie  above  described.  Nature  may  be  setn  in  the 
market-place,  or  at  the  card-table;  but  we  expect  something  more 
than  this  in  the  play-house  or  picture-room.  The  farther  the 
artist  recedes  from  nature,  the  greater  novelty  he  is  likely  to  pro- 
duce; if  he  rises  above  nature,  he  produces  the  sublime;  and 
beauty  is  probably  a  selection  and  new  combination  of  her  most 
agreeable  parts.  Yourself  will  be  sensible-  of  the  truth  of  this  doc- 
trine, by  recollecting  over  in  your  mind  the  works  of  three  of 
our  celebrated  artists.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  has  introduced  sub- 
limity even  into  its  portraits;  we  admire  the  representation  of 
persons,  whose  reality  we  should  have  passed  by  unnoticed.  Mrs. 
Angelica  Kauffman  attracts  our  eyes  with  beauty,  which,  I  suppose, 
no  where  exists;  certainly  few  Grecian  faces  are  seen  in  this  coun- 
try. And  the  daring  pencil  of  Fuseli  transports  us  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  nature,  and  ravishes  us  with  the  charm  of  the  most 
interesting  novelty.  And  Shakespeare,  who  excells  in  all  these 
together,  so  far  captivates  the  spectator,  as  to  make  him  unmind- 
ful of  every  kind  of  violation  of  time,  place,  or  existence.  As, 
at  the  first  appearance  of  the  Gnost  of  Hamlet,  "  his  ear  must 
be  dull  as  the  fat  weed  which  roots  itself  on  Lethe's  brink,"  who 
can  attend  to  the  improbability  of  the  exhibition.  So,  in  many 
scenes  of  the  Tempest,  we  perpetually  believe  the  action  passing 
before  our  eyes,  and  relapse,  with  somewhat  of  distaste,  into 
common  life,  at  the  intervals  of  the  representation. 

B.  I  suppose  a  poet  of  less  ability  would  find  such  great  ma- 
chinery difficult  and  cumbersome  to  manage  ? 

P.  Just  so,  we  should  be  shocked  at  the  apparent  improbabili- 
ties. As  in  the  gardens  of  a  Sicilian  nobleman,  described  in  Mr. 
Brydone's  and  in  Mr.  Swinburne's  travels,  there  are  said  to  be  six 
hundred  statues  of  imaginary  monsters,  which  so  disgust  the  spec- 
tators, that  the  State  had  once  a  serious  design  of  destroying  them » 
and  yet  the  very  improbable  monsters  in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses 
have  entertained  the  world  for  many  centuries. 

B.  The  monsters  in  your  Botanic  Garden,  I  hope,  are  of  the 
latter  kind  ? 

P.    The  candid  reader  must  determine. 


THE  '_    ' 

BOTANIC  GARDEN, 


LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS, 


CANTO  II. 

the  Goddefs  ftrikes  the  golden  lyre, 
And  tunes  to  wilder  notes  the  warbling  wire ; 
With  foft  fufpended  ftep  Attention  moves, 
And  Silence  hovers  o'er  the  liftening  groves ; 
Orb  within  orb  the  charmed  audience  throng, 
And  me  green  vault  reverberates  the  fong. 

"  Breathe  foft,  ye  Gales !"  the  fair  CARL  IN  A  cries, 
*'  Bear  on  broad  wings  your  Votrefs  to  the  fkies. 


Carllna.  1.  7.  Carline  Thiftle.  Of  the  clafs  Confederate  Males.  The 
feeds  of  this  and  of  many  other  plants  of  the  fame  clafs  are  furnifhed  with  a 
plume,  by  which  admirable  mechanifm  they  perform  long  aerial  journeys, 
icroffing  lakes  and  deferts,  and  are  thus  diffeminated  far  from  the  original 
plant,  and  have  much  the  appearance  of  a  Shuttlecock  as  they  fly.  The 
wings  are  of  different  conftruclion,  fome  being  like  a  divergent  tuft  of  hairs, 
others  are  branched  like  feathers,  fome  are  elevated  from  the  crown  of  the 
feed  by  a  flender  foot-ftalk,  which  gives  them  a  very  elegant  appearance, 
others  fit  immediately  on  the  crown  of  the  feed. 

Nature  has  many  other  curious  vegetable  contrivances  for  the  difperfion 
of  feeds:  fee  note  on  Helianthus,  But  perhaps  none  of  them  has  more  the 
appearance  of  defign  than  the  admirable  apparatus  of  Tillandfia  for  thispur- 
pofe.  This  plant  grows  on  the  branches  of  trees,  like  the  mifktoe,  and  never 
on  the  ground;  the  feeds  are  furnifhed  with  many  long  threads  on  their 
crowns;  which,  as  they  are  driven  forwards  by  the  winds,  wrap  round  the 
arms  of  the  trees,  and  thus  hold  them  faft  till  they  vegetate.  This  is  very 
analogous  to  the  migration  of  Spiders  on  the  goffamer,  who  are  faid  to  attach 
themfelves  to  the  end  of  a  long  thread,  and  rife  thus  to  the  tops  of  trees  or 
buildings,  as  the  accide-ntal  breezes  carry  them. 


46  BOTANIC  GARDEN,  PART  II. 

"  How  fweetly  mutable  yon  orient  hues, 

"  As  Morn's  fair  hand  her  opening  rofes  ftrews;  10 

"  How  bright,  when  Iris,  blending  many  a  ray, 

"  Binds  in  embroider'd  wreath  the  brow  of  Day ; 

"  Soft,  when  the  pendant  Moon  with  luflres  pale 

"  O'er  heaven's  blue  arch  unfurls  her  milky  veil ; 

"  While  from  the  north  long  threads  of  filver  light  15 

"  Dart  on  fwift  {buttles  o'er  the  tiflued  night ! 

"  Breathe  foft,  ye  Zephyrs !  hear  my  fervent  fighs, 

"  Bear  on  broad  wings  your  Votrefs  to  the  fkies !" 

— Plume  over  plume  in  long  divergent  lines 

On  whale-bone  ribs  the  fair  Mechanic  joins ;  20 

Inlays  with  eider  down  the  lilken  firings, 

And  weaves  in  wide  expanfe  Dasdaliail  wings ; 

Round  her  bold  fons  the  waving  pennons  binds, 

And  walks  with  angel-flep  upon  the  winds. 

So  on  the  fhorelefs  air  the  intrepid  Gaul  25 

Launch'd  the  vail  concave  of  his  buoyant  ball.- — 
Journeying  on  high,  the  filken  caftle  glides 
Bright  as  a  meteor  through  the  azure  tides ; 
O'er  towns,  and  towers,  and  temples,  wins  its  way,. 
Or  mounts  fublime,  and  gilds  the  vault  of  day.  30 

Silent  with  upturn'd  eyes  unbreathing  crowds 
Purfue  the  floating  wonder  to  the  clouds ; 
And,  flufh'd  with  tranfport  or  benumb'd  with  fear, 
Watch,  as  it  rifes,  the  diminiih'd  fphere. 
—Now  lefs  and  lefs  ! — and  now  a  fpeck  is  feen ! —  35 

And  now  the  fleeting  rack  obtrudes  between ! — 
With  bended  knees,  railed  arms,  and  fuppliant  brow, 
To  every  fhrine  with  mingled  cries  they  vow. — 
"  Save  Him,  ye  Saints!  who  o'er  the  good  prefide; 
"  Bear  Him,  ye  Winds  !  ye  Stars  benignant !  guide."        40 
- — The  calm  Philofopher  in  ether  fails, 
Views  broader  ftars,  and  breathes  in  purer  gales ; 
Sees,  like  a  map,  in  many  a  waving  line, 
Round  Earth's  blue  plains  her  lucid  waters  (nine; 
Sees  at  his  feet  the  forky  lightnings  glow,  45 

And  hears  innocuous  thunders  roar  below» 


CANTO  II.          LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS,  47 

— Rife,  great  MONGOLFIER  !  urge  thy  venturous  flight 

High  o'er,the  Moon's  pale  ice-refle&ed  light; 

High  o'er  the  pearly  Star,  whofe  beamy  horn 

Hangs  in  the  eaft,  gay  harbinger  of  morn ;  50 

Leave  the  red  eye  of  Mars  on  rapid  wing, 

Jove's  filver  guards,  and  Saturn's  cryftal  ring; 

Leave  the  fair  beams,  which,  iffuing  from  afar, 

Play  with  new  luftres  round  the  Georgian  ftar ; 

Shun  with  ftrong  oars  the  Sun's  attra&ive  throne,  55 

The  fparkling  zodiac,  and  the  milky  zone ; 

Where  headlong  Comets,  with  increafmg  force, 

Through  other  fyflems  bend  their  blazing  courfe. — 

For  thee  Caffiope  her  chair  withdraws, 

For  thee  the  Bear  retracts  his  fhaggy  paws ;  60 

High  o'er  the  North  thy  golden  orb  (hall  roll, 

And  blaze  eternal  round  the  wondering  pole. 

So  Argo,  rifing  from  the  fouthern  main, 

Lights  with  new  ftars  the  blue  etherial  plain ; 

With  favouring  beams  the  mariner  protects,  65 

And  the  bold  courfe,  which  firft  it  fteer'd,  directs. 

Inventrefs  of  the  Woof,  fair  LIN  A  flings 
The  flying  fhtittle  through  the  dancing  firings; 
Inlays  the  broider'd  weft  with  flowery  dyes, 
Quick  beat  the  reeds,  the  pedals  fall  and  rife;  70 

Slow  from  the  beam  the  lengths  of  warp  unwind, 
And  dance  and  nod  the  mafly  weights  behind. — 
Taught  by  her  labours,  from  the  fertile  foil 
Immortal  Is  is  clothed  the  banks  of  Nile; 


For  thee  the  Bear.  I.  60.  Tibi  jam  brachia  contrahit  ardens  Scorpius. 
Virg.  Georg.  1.  r  34.  A  new  ftar  appeared  in  Caffiope's  chair  in  1572. 
Herfchel's  Conftru&ion  of  the  Heavens.  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  Ixxv.  p.  266. 

Linum.  1.  67.  Flax.  Five  males  and  five  females.  It  was  fir  ft  found  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile.  The  Linum  Lufitanicum,  or  Portugal  flax,  has  ten 
males :  fee  the  note  on  Curcuma.  Ifis  was  faid  to  invent  fpinning  and  weav- 
ing: mankind  before  that  time  were  clothed  with  the  Ikios  of  animals. 
The  fable  of  Arachne  was  to  compliment  this  new  art  of  fpinning  and  wear- 
ing, fuppofed  to  iurpafs  in  finenefs  the  web  of  the  Spider. 


48  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

And  fair  ARACHNE  with  her  rival  loom  75 

Found  undeferved  a  melancholy  doom. — 

Five  Sifter-nymphs  with  dewy  fingers  twine 

The  beamy  flax,  and  ftretch  the  fibre-line  ; 

Quick  eddying  threads  from  rapid  fpindles  reel, 

Or  whirl  with  beaten  foot  the  dizzy  wheel.  80 

— Charm'cl  round  the  bufy  Fair^zW  fhepherds  prefs, 

Praife  the  nice  texture  of  their  fnowy  drefs, 

Admire  the  Artifts,  and  the  art  approve, 

And  tell  with  honey'd  words  the  tale  of  love. 

So  now,  where  Derwent  rolls  his  dufky  floods  8$ 

Through  vaulted  mountains,  and  a  night  of  woods, 
The  Nymph,  GOSSYPIA,  treads  the  velvet  fod, 
And  warms  with  rofy  fmiles  the  watery  God  j 
His  ponderous  oars  to  flender  fpindles  turns, 
And  pours  o'er  mafly  wheels  his  foamy  urns;  90 

With  playful  charms  her  hoary  lover  wins, 
And  wields  his  trident, — while  the  Monarch  fpins. 


GoJJypia.  1.  87.  Goffypium.  The  cotton  plant.  On  the  river  Derwent, 
near  Matlock,  in  Derbyfhire,  Sir  RICHARD  AH.IC.WRIGHT  has  erected  his1  cu- 
rious and  magnificent  machinery  for  fpinning  cotton,  which  had  been  in 
vain  attempted  by  many  ingenious  artifts  before  him.  The  cotton-wool  is 
firft  picked  from  the  pods  and  feeds  by  women.  It  is  then  carded  by  cylin- 
drical cards,  which  move  againft  each  other,  with  different  velocities.  It  is 
taken  from  thefe  by  an  iron-band  or  comb,  which  has  a  motion  fimilar  to 
that  of  fcratching,  and  takes  the  wool  off  the  cards  longitudinally  in  refpecfc 
to  the  fibres  or  ilaple,  producing  a  continued  line  loofely  cohering,  called 
the  Rove  or  Roving.  This  Rove,  yet  very  loofely  twifted,  is  then  received 
or  drawn  into  a  ivhirling  canrjier,  and  is  rolled  by  the  centrifugal  force  in 
fpiral  lines  within  it ;  being  yet  too  tender  for  the  fpindle.  It  is  then  palled 
between  two  pairs  of  rollers ;  the  fecond  pair  moving  fafter  than  the  firft 
elongate  the  thread  with  greater  equality  than  can  be  done  by  the  hand; 
and  is  then  twifted  on  fpoles  or  bobbinr,. 

The  great  fertility  of  the  Cotton-plant  in  thefe  fine  flexile  threads,  while 
thofe  from  Flax,  Hemp,  and  Nettles,  or  from  the  bark  of  the  Mulberry- 
tree,  require  a  previous  putrefaction  of  the  parenchymatous  fubftance,  and 
much  mechanical  labour,  and  afterwards  bleaching,  renders  this  plant  of 
great  importance  to  the  world.  And  fince  Sir  Richard  Arkwright's  inge- 
nious machine  has  not  only  greatly  abbreviated  and  fimplified  the  labour  and 
art  of  carding  and  fpinning  the  Cotton-wool,  but  performs  both  thefe  cir- 
cumftances  better  than  can  be  done  by  hand,  it  is  probable,  that  the  clothing 
of  this  fmall  feed  will  become  the  principal  clothing  of  mankind  ;  though 
animal  wool  and  filk  may  be  preferable  in  colder  climates,  as  they  are  more 
imperfect  conductors  of  heat,  and  are  thence  a  warmer  clothing. 


CANTO  II.         LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  49 

Firft  with  nice  eye  emerging  Naiads  cull 

From  leathery  pods  the  vegetable  wool ; 

With  wiry  teeth  revolving  cards  releafe  9$ 

The  tangled  knots,  and  fmooih  the  ravell'd  fleece; 

Next  moves  the  iron-hand  with  fingers  fine, 

Combs  the  wide  card,  and  forms  the  eternal  line ; 

Slow,  with  foft  lips,  the  whirling  Can  acquires 

The  tender  fkeins,  and  wraps  in  rifing  fpires;  100 

With  quicken'd  pace  fuccejjive  rollers  move, 

And  thefe  retain,  and  thofe  extend  the  rove ; 

Then  fly  the  fpoles,  the  rapid  axles  glow, 

And  flowly  circumvolves  the  labouring  wheel  below. 

PAPYRA,  throned  upon  the  banks  of  Nile,  105 

Spread  her  fmooth  leaf,  and  waved  her  iilver  ftyle. 
— The  ftoried  pyramid,  the  laurel'd  buft, 
The  trophy'd  arch  had  crumbled  into  duft ; 

Emerging  Naiads.  1.  93.  "  "       earn  circum  Mileila  vellera  Nymph* 
Carpebant,  hyali  faturo  fucata  colore. 

Virg.  Georg:  IV.  334. 

Cyperus.  Papyrus.  1.  105.  Three  males,  one  female.  The  leaf  of  this 
£.lant  was  firft  uied  for  paper,  whence  the  word  paper ;  and  leaf,  or  folium, 
lor  a  fold  of  a  book.  Afterwards  the  bark  of  a  fpecies  of  mulberry  was 
ufed;  whence  liber  fignifies  a  book,  and  the  bark  of  a  tree.  Before  the  in- 
vention of  letters  mankind  may  be  faid  to  have  been  perpetually  in  their  in- 
fancy, as  the  arts  of  one  age  or  country  generally  died  with  their  inventors. 
Whence  arofe  the  policy,  which  ftill  continues  in  Indoftan,  of  obliging  the 
fon  to  praclife  the  profeflion  of  his  father.  After  the  difcovery  of  letters, 
the  fa&$  of  Aftronomy  and  Chemiftry  became  recorded  in  written  language, 
though  the  ancient  hieroglyphic  characters  for  the  planets  and  metals  conti- 
nue in  ufe  at  this  day.  The  antiquity  of  the  invention  of  mufic,  of  aftrono- 
mical  obfervations,  and  the  manufacture  of  Gold  and  Iron,  are  recorded  in 
Scripture. 

About  twenty  letters,  ten  cyphers,  and  feven  crotchets,  reprefent  by  their 
numerous  combinations  all  our  ideas  and  fenfations!  the  mufical  characters 
are  probably  arrived  at  their  perfection,  unlefs  emphafis,  and  tone,  and 
fwell  could  be  exprefled,  as  well  as  note  and  time.  Charles  the  Twelfth  of 
Sweden  had  a  defign  to  have  introduced  a  numeration  by  fquares,  inftead  of 
by  decimation,  which  might  have  ferved  the  purpofes  of  philofophy  better 
than  the  prefent  mode,  which  is  faid  to  be  of  Arabic  invention.  The  Al- 
phabet is  yet  in  a  very  imperfect  ftate;  perhaps  feventeen  letters  could  ex- 
prefs  all  the  iimple  founds  in  the  European  languages.  In  China  they  have 
not  yet  learned  to  divide  their  words  into  fyllables,  and  are  thence  neceflitat- 
cd  to  employ  many  thouiand  characters;  it  is  faid  above  eighty  thoufand. 
It  is  to  be  wifhed,  in  this  ingenious  age,  that  the  European  nations  would 
accord  to  reform  our  alphabet. 

PART  II.  G 


5°  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

V 

The  facred  fymbol,  and  the  epic  fong, 

(Unknown  the  character,  forgot  the  tongue,)  1 10 

With  each  unconquer'd  chief,  or  fainted  maid, 

Sunk  undiftinguifh'd  in  Oblivion's  fhade. 

Sad  o'er  the  fcatter'd  ruins  Genius  figh'd, 

And  infant  Arts  but  learn'd  to  lifp,  and  died. 

Till  to  aftonifli'd  realms  PAPYRA  taught  115 

To  paint  in  myftic  colours  Sound  and  Thought* 

With  Wifdom's  voice  to  print  the  page  fublime, 

And  mark  in  adamant  the  fteps  of  Time. 

— Three  favour'd  youths  her  foft  attention  fhare, 

The  fond  difciples  of  the  fludious  Fair,  120 

Hear  her  fweet  voice,  the  golden  procefs  prove  ; 

Gaze,  as  they  learn;  and,  as  they  liflen,  love* 

'The  firft  from  Alpha  to  Omega  joins 

The  lettered  tribes  along  the  level  lines ; 

Weighs  with  nice  ear  the  vowel,  liquid,  furd,  125 

And  breaks  in  fyllables  the  volant  word. 

Then  forms  the  next  upon  the  marfhall'd  plain, 

In  deepening  ranks,  his  dexterous  cypher-train ; 

And  counts,  as  wheel  the  decimating  bands, 

The  dews  of  Egypt,  or  Arabia's  fands.  130 

And  then  the  third,  on  four  concordant  lines, 

Prints  the  lone  crotchet,  and  the  quaver  joins ; 

Marks  the  gay  trill,  the  folemn  paufe  infcribes, 

And  parts  with  bars  the  undulating  tribes.  134 

Pleafed,  round  her  cane- wove  throne,  the  applauding  crowd 

Clapp'd  their  rude  hands,  their  fwarthy  foreheads  bow'd; 

With  loud  acclaim,  "  a  prefent  God!"  theycry'd, 

"  A  prefent  God!"  rebellowing  fhores  reply'd. — 

Then  peal'd  at  intervals,  with  mingled  fwell, 

The  echoing  harp,  fhrill  clarion,  horn,  and  fliell;  140 

While  Bards  ecftatic,  bending  o'er  the  lyre, 

Struck  deeper  chords,  and  wing'd  the  fong  with  fire. 

Then  mark'd  Aftronomers,  with  keener  eyes, 

The  Moon's  refulgent  journey  through  the  fkies ; 

Watch'd  the  fwift  Comets  urge  their  blazing  cars,  145 

And  weigh'd  the  Sun  with  his  revolving  Stars. 


CANTO  II.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  $'i 

High  raifed  the  Chemifts  their  Hermetic  wands, 

(And  changing  forms  obey'd  their  waving  hands,) 

Her  treafured  Gold  from  Earth's  deep  chambers  tore, 

Or  fufed  and  harden'd  her  chalybeate  ore.  150 

All  with  bent  knee  from  fair  PAPYRA  claim, 

Wove  by  her  hands,  the  wreath  of  deathlefs  fame. 

— Exulting  Genius  crown'd  his  darling  child, 

The  young  Arts  clafp'd  her  knees,  and  Virtue  fmil'd. 

So  now  DELANY  forms  her  mimic  bowers,  155 

Her  paper  foliage,  and  her  filken  flowers ; 
Her  virgin  train  the  tender  fciflfars  ply, 
Vein  the  green  leaf,  the  purple  petal  dye: 
Round  wiry  ftems  the  flaxen  tendril  bends, 
Mofs  creeps  below,  and  waxen  fruit  impends.  160 

Cold  Winter  views,  amid  his  realms  of  fnow, 
DELANY'S  vegetable  ftatues  blow; 
Smooths  his  ftern  brow,  delays  his  hoary  wing, 
And  eyes  with  wonder  all  the  blooms  of  fpring. 

The  gentle  LAPSANA,  NYMPH^A  fan>  165 

And  bright  CALENDULA  with  golden  hair, 


So  noiv  Delany.  1.  155.  Mrs.  Delany  has  finifhed  nine  hundred  and  fe- 
venty  accurate  and  elegant  reprefentations  of  different  vegetables,  with  the 
parts  of  their  flowers,  fructification,  &c.  according  with  the  claflification  of 
Linnseus,  in  what  fhe  terms  paper-mofaic.  She  began  this  work  at  the  age 
of  74,  when  her  fight  would  no  longer  ferve  her  to  paint,  in  which  fhe 
much  excelled;  between  her  age  of  74  and  82,  at  which  time  her  eyes  quite 
failed  her,  fhe  executed  the  curious  Hortus  ficcus  above-mentioned,  which*  I 
fuppofe  contains  a  greater  number  of  plants  than  were  ever  before  drawn 
from  the  life  by  any  one  perfon.  Her  method  confifted  in  placing  the  leaves 
of  each  plant  with  the  petals,  and  all  the  other  parts  of  the  flowers,  on  coloured 
paper,  and  cutting  them  with  fciflars  accurately  to  the  natural  fize  and  form, 
and  then  pafling  them  on  a  dark  ground;  the  effecfl  of  which  is  wonderful, 
and  their  accuracy  lefs  liable  to  fallacy  than  drawings.  She  is  at  this  time 
(1788)  in  her  #9th  year,  with  all  the  powers  of  a  fine  underitanding  flill  un- 
impaired. I  am  informed  another  very  ingenious  lady,  Mrs.  North,  is  con- 
ftrudling  a  fimilar  Hortus  ficcus,  or  Paper-garden;  which  fhe  executes  on  a 
ground  of  vellum  with  fuch  elegant  tafte  and  fcientific  accuracy,  that  it  can- 
not fail  to  become  a  work  of  ineftimable  value. 

Lapfana,  Nymphtea  alba,  Calendula.  1.  165.  And  many  other  flowers  clofe 
and  open  their  petals  at  certain  hours  of  the  day;  and  thus  constitute  what 
Linna;us  calls  the  Horologe,  or  Watch  of  Flora.  He  enumerates  46  flowers, 


&  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

Watch  with  nice  eye  the  Earth's  diurnal  way, 

Marking  her  folar  and  fidereal  day, 

Her  flow  nutation,  and  her  varying  clime, 

And  trace  with  mimic  art  the  march  of  Time;  170 

Round  his  light  foot  a  magic  chain  they  fling, 

And  count  the  quick  vibrations  of  his  wing. — 

Firft  in  its  brazen  cell  reluctant  rolPd, 

Bends  the  dark  fpring  in  many  a  fteely  fold. 

On  fpiral  brafs  is  ftretch'd  the  wiry  thong,  175 

Tooth  urges  tooth,  and  wheel  drives  wheel  along ; 

In  diamond-eyes  the  polifh'd  axles  flow, 

Smooth  flides  the  hand,  the  balance  pants  below. 

Round  the  white  circlet,  in  relievo  bold, 

A  Serpent  twines  his  fcaly  length  in  gold;  180 

And  brightly  pencil'd  on  the  enamel'd  fphere, 

Live  the  fair  trophies  of  the  patting  year. 

— Here  Time's  huge  fingers  grafp  his  giant  mace, 

And  dafli  proud  Superftition  from  her  bafe ; 


which  poffefs  this  kind  of  fenfibility.  I  fhall  mention  a  few  of  them, 
•With  their  refpedtive  hours  of  rifing  and  fetting,  as  JLinnseus  terms  them. 
He  divides  them  firft  into  meteoric  flowers,  which  lefs  accurately  obferve  the 
hour  of  unfolding,  but  are  expanded  fooner  or  later,  according  to  the  cloudi- 
nefs,  moifture,  or  preflure  of  the  atmofphere.  ad.  Tropical  flowers  open  in 
the  morning  and  cloie  before  evening  every  day ;  but  the  hour  of  the  ex- 
panding becomes  earlier  or  later,  as  the  length  of  the  day  increafes  or  de- 
creafes.  3dly.  JEquinoflial  flowers,  which  open  at  a  certain  and  exadt  hour 
of  the  day,  and  for  the  moft  part  clofe  at  another  determinate  hour. 

Hence  the  Horologe  or  Watch  of  Flora,  is  formed  from  numerous  plants, 
of  which  the  following  are  thofe  moft  common  in  this  country.  Leontodon 
taraxacum,  Dandelion,  opens  at  5 — 6,  clofes  at  8 — 9.  Hieracium  pilofella, 
moufe-ear  hawkweed,  opens  at  8,  doles  at  2.  Sonchus  laevis,  fmooth  Sow- 
thiftle,  at  5  and  at  11-7-12.  Ladtuca  fativa,  cultivated  Lettice,  at  7  and  at 
10.  Tragopogon  lutcum-£  yellow  Goats-beard,  at  3 — 5  and  at  9 — 10.  Lap- 
fana,  nipplewort,  at  5— -6  end  at  10— i.  Nymphcea  alba,  white  water  lily, 
at  7  and  5.  Papaver  nudicaule,  naked  poppy,  at  5  and  at  7.  Hemerocallis 
fulva,  tawny  Day-lily,  at  5  and  at  7 — 8.  Convulvulus,  at  5 — 6.  Malva, 
Mallow,  at  9 — 10,  and  at  I.  Arenarea  purpurea,  purple  Sandwort,  at  9 — 10, 
and  ,at,2 — 3.  Anagallis,  pimpernel,  at  7 — 8.  Portulaca  hortenfis,  garden 
Purflain,  at  9 — 10,  and  at  1 1 — 12.  Dianthus  prolifer,  proliferous  Pink,  at 
8  and  aW.  Cichoreum,  Succory,  at  4 — 5.  Hypochxris,  at  6 — 7,  and  at 
4 — 5-  Crepis,  at  4 — 5,  and  at  10-.— u.  Picris,  at  4 — 5,  and  at  12.  Ca- 
lendula field,  at-,9,.and  at  3.  Calendula  African,  at  7,  and  at  3 — 4. 

As  thefe  obfervations  were  probably  made  in  the  botanic  gardens  at  Up- 
fal,  they  muft  require  farther  attention  to  fuit  them  to  our  climate.  See 
Stillingfleet's  Calendar  of  Flora. 


CANTO  II.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS,  53 

Rend  her  flrong  towers  and  gorgeous  fanes,  and  {"bed       185 

The  crumbling  fragments  round  her  guilty  head. 

There  the  gay  Hours,  whom  wreaths  of  rofes  deck, 

Lead  their  young  trains  amid  the  cumberous  wreck, 

And,  {lowly  purpling  o'er  the  mighty  wafte, 

Plant  the  fair  growths  of  Science  and  of  Tafte.  190 

While  each  light  Moment,  as  it  dances  by 

With  feathery  foot  and  pleafure-twinkling  eye, 

Feeds  from  its  baby-hand,  with  many  a  kifs, 

Trie  callow  neftlings  of  domeftic  Blifs. 

As  yon  gay  clouds,  which  canopy  the  fkies,  195 

Change  their  thin  forms,  and  lofe  their  lucid  dyes ; 
So  the  foft  bloom  of  Beauty's  vernal  charms 
Fades  in  our  eyes,  and  withers  in  our  arms. 
—Bright  as  the  filvery  plume,  or  pearly  fhell, 
The  fnow-white  rofe,  or  lily's  virgin  bell,  200 

The  fair  HELLEBORUS  attractive  {hone, 
Warm'd  every  Sage,  and  every  Shepherd  won. — 
Round  the  gay  filters  prefs  the  enamour' }d  bands, 
And  feek  with  foft  folicitude  their  hands. 
— Erewhile  how  chang'd  ! — in  dim  fuffufion  lies  205 

The  glance  divine,  that  lighten'd  in  their  eyes ; 
Cold  are  thofe  lips,  where  fmiles  feductive^Jiung, 
And  the  weak  accents  linger  on  their  tongue ; 
Each  rofeate  feature  fades  to  livid  green — 
— Difguft,  with  face  averted,  {huts  the  fcene.  210 

So  from  his  gorgeous  throne,  which  awed  the  world, 
The  mighty  Monarch  of  Aflyria  hurl'd, 

Hellelarus,  1.  2OI.  Many  males,  many  females.  The  Helleborus  niger, 
or  Chriftmas  rofe,  has  a  large  beautiful  white  flower,,  adorned  with  a  circle 
of  tubular  two-lip'd  nectaries.  After  impregnation  the  flower  undergoes  a 
remarkable  change,  the  nectaries  drop  off,  but  the  white  corol  remains,  and 
gradually  becomes  quite  green.  This  curious  metamorphofe  of  the  corol, 
when  the  nectaries  fall  off,  feems  to  fhew  that  the  white  juices  of  the  corol 
were  before  carried  to  the  nectaries,  for  the  purpofe  of  producing  honey: 
becaufe  when  thefe  ne6taries  fall  off,  no  more  of  the  white  juice  is  fecreted 
in  the  corol,  but  it  becomes  green,  and  degenerates  into  a  calyx.  See  note  on 
Lonicera.  The  nectary  of  the  Tropseolum,  garden  nafturtium,  is  a  coloured 
horn  growing  from  the  calyx. 


54  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

SojournM  with  brutes  beneath  the  midnight  ftorra, 

Changed  by  avenging  Heaven  in  mind  and  form. 

• — Prone  to  the  earth  he  bends  his  brow  fuperb,  215 

Crops  the  young  floret  and  the  bladed  herb ; 

Lolls  his  red  tongue,  and  from  the  reedy  fide 

Of  flow  Euphrates  laps  the  muddy  tide. 

Long  eagle  plumes  his  arching  neck  invenv 

Steal  round  his  arms,  and  clafp  his  (harpen'd  breaft;        220 

Dark  brinded  hairs,  in  bridling  ranks,  behind, 

Rife  o'er  his  back,  and  ruftle  in  the  wind  ; 

Clothe  his  lank  iides,  his  (hrivePcl  limbs  furround, 

And  human  hands  with  talons  print  the  ground. 

Silent,  in  fhining  troops,  the  Courtier-throng  225 

Purfue  their  monarch  as  he  crawls  along ; 

E'en  Beauty  pleads  in  vain  with  fmiles  and  tears, 

Nor  Flattery's  felf  can  pierce  his  pendant  ears. 

Two  Sifter-Nymphs  to  Ganges'  flowery  brink 
Bend  their  light  fteps,  the  lucid  water  drink,  230 

Wind  through  the  dewy  rice,  and  nodding  canes, 
(As  eight  black  Eunuchs  guard  the  facred  plains,) 
With  playful  malice  watch  the  fcaly  brood, 
And  fhower  the  inebriate  berries  on  the  flood. — 
Stay  in  your  cryftal  chambers,  filver  tribes !  235 

Turn  your  bright  eyes,  and  fhun  the  dangerous  bribes'; 
The  tramel'd  net  with  lefs  deftru&ion  fweeps 
Your  curling  {hallows,  and  your  azure  deeps ; 
With  lefs  deceit,  the  gilded  fly  beneath, 
Lurks  the  fell  hook  unfeen,— to  tafte  is  death  !  240 

• — Dim  your  flow  eyes,  and  dull  your  pearly  coat, 
Drunk  on  the  waves  your  languid  forms  fhall  float, 
On  ufelefs  fins  in  giddy  circles  play, 
And  Herons  and  Otters  feize  you  for  their  prey. — 


Tivo  SiJter-Nympljs,  1.  229.  Menifpermum.  Cocculus.  Indian  berry.  Two 
houfes,  twelve  males.  In  the  female  flower  there  are  two  ftyles  and  eight 
filaments  without  anthers  on  their  fummits;  which  arc  called  by  Linnasus 
eunuchs.  See  the  note  on  Curcuma.  The  berry  intoxicates  fifh.  Saint  An- 
thony of  Padua,  when  the  people  refufed  to  hear  him,  preached  to  the  fiih, 
and  converted  them.  Addifon's  travels  in  Italy.  . 


CANTO  II.          LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  $$ 

So,  when  the  Saint  from  Padua's  gracelefs  land  245 

In  Client  anguiih  fought  the  barren  ftrand, 
High  on  the  fhatter'd  beech  fublime  he  flood, 
Still'd  with  his  waving  arm  the  babbling  flood; 
"  To  Man's  dull  ear,"  he  cry'd,  "  I  call  in  vain, 
"  Hear  me,  ye  fcaly  tenants  of  the  main! — "  250 

Misfhapen  Seals  approach  in  circling  flocks, 
In  dufky  mail  the  Tortoife  climbs  the  rocks, 
Torpedoes,  Sharks,  Rays,  Porpus,  Dolphins,  pour 
Their  twinkling  fquadrons  round  the  glittering  (here; 
With  tangled  fins,  behind,  huge  Phocae  glide,  '255 

And  Whales  and  Grampi  fwell  the  diftant  tide. 
Then  kneel'd  the  hoary  Seer,  to  Heav'n  addrefs'd 
His  fiery  eyes,  and  fmote  his  founding  bread ; 
"  Blefs  ye  the  Lord,"  with  thundering  voice  he  cry'd, 
"  Blefs  ye  the  Lord!"  the  bending  (hores  reply'd;  260 

The  winds  and  waters  caught  the  facred  word, 
And  mingling  echoes  fhouted  "  Blefs  the  Lord !" 
The  liftening  flioals  the  quick  contagion  feel, 
Pant  on  the  floods,  inebriate  with  their  zeal, 
Ope  their  wide  jaws,  and  bow  their  (limy  heads,  265 

And  dafh  with  frantic  fins  their  foamy  beds. 

SophaM  on  filk,  amid  her  charm-built  towers, 
Her  meads  of  afphodel,  and  amaranth  bowers, 
Where  Sleep  and  Silence  guard  the  foft  abodes, 
In  fullen  apathy  PAPAVER  nods.  270 


Papaver.  1.  270.  Poppy.  Many  males,  many  females.  The  plants  of 
this  clafs  are  almofl  all  of  them  poifonous;  the  fineft  opium  is  procured  by 
wounding  the  heads  of  large  poppies  with  a  three-edged  knife,  and  tying 
mufcle-ftiells  to  them  to  catch  the  drops.  In  fmall  quantities  it  exhilarates 
the  mind,  raifes  the  paflions,  and  invigorates  the  body:  in  large  ones  it  is  fuc- 
ceeded  by  intoxication,  languor,  ftupor  and  death.  It  is  cuftomary  in  India 
for  a  meffenger  to  travel  above  a  hundred  miles  without  reft  or  food,  except 
an  appropriated  bit  of  opium  for  himfelf,  and  a  larger  one  for  his  horfe  at  cer- 
tain ftages.  The  emaciated  and  decrepid  appearance,  with  the  ridiculous 
and  idiotic  geftures,  of  the  opium-eaters  in  Conflantinople,  is  well  defcribed 
in  the  Memoirs  of  Baron  de  Tott. 


$6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

Faint  o'er  her  couch  in  fcintillating  ftreams 

Pafs  the  thin  forms  of  Fancy  and  of  Dreams; 

Froze  hy  inchantment  on  the  velvet  ground, 

Fair  youths  and  beauteous  ladies  glitter  round ; 

On  cryftal  pedeftals  they  feem  to  figh,  275 

Bend  the  meek  knee,  and  lift  the  imploring  eye. 

— And  now  the  Sorcerefs  bares  her  fhrivePd  hand, 

And  circles  thrice  in  air  her  ebon  wand ; 

Flufh'd  with  new  life  defcending  flatues  talk, 

The  pliant  marble  foftening  as  they  walk;  280 

With  deeper  fobs  reviving  lovers  breathe, 

Fair  bofoms  rife  and  foft  hearts  pant  beneath ; 

With  warmer  lips  relenting  damfels  fpeak, 

And  kindling  blufhes  tinge  the  Parian  cheek ; 

To  viewlefs  lutes  aerial  voices  fing,  285 

And  hovering  loves  are  heard  on  ruftling  wing. 

• — She  waves  her  wand  again ! — frefh  horrors  feize 

Their  ftirTening  limbs,  their  vital  currents  freeze; 

By  each  cold  nymph  her  marble  lover  lies, 

And  iron  {lumbers  feal  her  glafly  eyes.  290 

So  with  his  dread  Caduceus  HERMES  led 

From  the  dark  regions  of  the  imprifon'd  dead, 

Or  drove  in  filent  (hoals  the  lingering  train 

To  Night's  dull  fliore,  and  PLUTO'S  dreary  reign. 

So  with  her  waving  pencil  CREWE  commands  2-95 

The  realms  of  Tafte,  and  Fancy's  fairy  lands; 
Calls  up  with  magic  voice  the  fhapes,  that  fleep 
In  Earth's  dark  bofom,  or  unfathom'd  deep ; 
That,  flirined  in  air,  on  viewlefs  wings  afpire, 
Or,  blazing,  bathe  in  elemental  fire.  300 

As  with  nice  touch  her  plaftic  hand  (he  moves, 
Rife  the  fine  forms  of  Beauties,  Graces,  Loves; 
Kneel  to  the  fair  Inchantrefs,  fmile  or  figh, 
And  fade  or  flourilh,  as  (he  turns  her  eye. 

So  iviih  her  waving  pencil.  1.  295.     Alluding  to  the  many  beautiful  painf^ 
ings  by  Mifs  EMMA  CREWZ. 


II.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS,  $7 

Fair  CISTA,  rival  of  the  rofy  dawn,  305 

Call'd  her  light  choir,  and  trod  the  dewy  lawn :; 
Haii'd  with  rude  melody  the  new-born  May, 
As  cradled  vet  in  April's  lap  (he  lay. 

I. 
"  Born  in  yon  blaze  of  orient  iky, 

"  Sweet  MAY  !  thy  radiant  form  unfold; 
"  Unclofe  thy  blue  voiuptuous  eye, 

"  And  wave  thy  ihadowy  locks  of  gold. 

II. 
"  For  thee  the  fragrant  zephyrs  blow, 

"  For  thee  defcends  the  funny  fhower ; 
"  The  rills  in  fofter  murmurs  flow, 

"  And  brighter  bloflbms  gem  the  bower. 

III. 

"  Light  Graces  drefs*d  in  flowery  wreaths, 
"  And  tiptoe  Joys  their  hands  combine; 
"  And  Love  his  fweet  contagion  breathes, 

"  And  laughing  dances  round  thy  fhrine.  320 

IV. 
"  Warm  with  new  life  the  glittering  throngs, 

"  On  quivering  fin  and  ruftling  wing, 
"  Delighted  join  their  votive  fongs, 

"  And  hail  thee,  GODDESS  O-F  THE  SPRING.'* 


Cljlus  labdamferus.  1.  305.  Many  males,  one  female.  The  petals  of  this 
beautiful  and  fragrant  flirub,  as  well  as  of  the  CEnothera,  tree  primrofe,  and 
others,  continue  expanded  but  a  few  hours,  falling  off  about  noon,  or  foon 
after,  in  hot  weather.  The  mpft  beautiful  flowers  of  the  Ca6tus  grandiflo- 
rus  (fee  Cerea)  are  of  equally  Ihort  duration,  but  have  their  exiftence  in  the 
night.  And  the  flowers  of  the  Hibifcus  trionum  are  faid  to  continue  but  a 
fingle  hour.  The  courtfhip  between  the  males  and  females  in  thefe  flowers 
might  be  eafily  watched;  the  males  are  faid  to  approach  and  recede  from 
the  females  alternately.  The  flowers  of  the  Hibifcus  finenfis,  mutable  rofe, 
live  in  the  Weft-Indies,  their  native  climate,  but  one  day;  but  have  this  re- 
markable property,  they  are  white  at  their  firft  expanfion,  then  change  to 
deep  red,  and  become  purple  as  they  decay. 

The  gum  or  refin  of  rhis  fragrant  vegetable  is  collected  from  extenfive 
underwoods  of  it  in  the  Eaft  by  a  fingular  contrivance.  Long  leathern 
thongs  are  tied  to  poles  and  cords,  and  drawn  over  the  tops  of  thefe  fhrubs 
about  noon;  which  thus  colledl  the  duft  of  the  anthers,  which  adheres  to  the 
leather,  and  is  occafionally  icraped  off.  Thus,  in  fome  degree,  is  the  manner 
imitated,  in  which  the  bee  collects  on  his  thighs  and  legs  the  fame  mate- 
rial for  the  conftrudlion  of  his  combs. 

PART  II.  H 


58  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PA*T  II* 

O'er  the  green  brinks  of  Severn's  oozy  bed,  325 

In  changeful  rings,  her  fprightly  troops  {he  led ; 

PAN  tripp'd  before,  where  Eudnefs  (hades  the  mead, 

And  blew  with  glowing  lip  his  fevenfold  reed ; 

Emerging  Naiads  fwell'd  the  jocund  ftrain, 

And  aped  with  mimic  ftep  the  dancing  train. —  330 

"  I  faint,  I  fall!'* — at  noon  the  Beauty  cried, 

*'  Weep  o'er  my  tomb,  ye  Nymphs !" — and  funk,  and  died. 

— Thus,  when  white  Winter  o'er  the  mivering  clime 

Drives  the  ftill  mow,  or  mowers  the  filver  rime; 

As  the  lone  mepherd  o'er  the  dazzling  rocks  "335 

Prints  his  fteep  ftep,  and  guides  his  vagrant  flocks; 

Views  the  green  holly  veil'd  in  net-work  nice, 

Her  vermil  clutters  twinkling  in  the  ice; 

Admires  the  lucid  vales,   and  (lumbering  floods, 

Sufpended  cataracts,  and  cryftal  woods,  340 

Tranfparent  towns,,  with  feas  of  milk  between^ 

And  eyes  with  tranfport  the  refulgent  fcene : 

If  breaks  the  funmine  o'er  the  fpangled  trees, 

Or  flits  on  tepid  wing  the  weftern  breeze, 

In  liquid  dews  defcends  the  tranfient  glare»  345 

And  all  the  glittering  pageant  melts  in  air. 

Where  Andes  hides  his-  cloud- wreath'd  creft  in  (now, 
And  roots  his  bafe  on  burning  fands  below ; 
CINCHONA,  faireft  of  Peruvian  maids, 
To  Health's  bright  Goddefs  in  the  breezy  glades,  350 

On  Quito's  temperate  plain  an  altar  rear'd, 
Trill'd  the  loud  hymn,  the  folemn  prayer  preferr'd : 
Each  balmy  bud  me  culPd,  and  honey'd  flower, 
And  hung  with  fragrant  wreaths  the  facred  bower; 


Sevenfold  reed.  ].  328.     The  fevenfold  reed,  with  which  Pan  is  frequently 
defcribed,  feems  to  indicate,  that  he  was  the  inventor  of  the  mufical  gamut. 

Cinchona.  1.  349.  Peruvian  bark-tree.  Five  males  and  one  female.  Se- 
veral of  thefe  trees  were  felled  for  other  purpofes  into  a  lake,  when  an  epi-% 
demic  fever  of  a  very  mortal  kind  prevailed  at  Loxa,  in  Peru,  and  the  wood* 
men  accidentally  drinking  the  water,  were  cured;  and  thus  were  discovered 
the  virtues  of  this  famous  drug. 


CANTO  II.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  59 

Each  pearly  fea  fhe  fearch'd,  and  fparkling  mine,  355 

Arid  piled  their  treafures  on  the  gorgeous  fhrine ; 

Her  fuppliant  voice  for  fickning  Loxa  raifed, 

Sweet  breath'd  the  gale,  and  bright  the  cenfor  blazed. 

— "  Divine  HYGEIA  !   on  thy  votaries  bend 

"  Thy  angel-looks,  oh,  hear  us,  and  defend !  360 

"  While  ftreaming  o'er  the  night  with  baleful  glare 

"  The  ftar  of  Autumn  rays  his  mifty  hair; 

"  Fierce  from  his  fens  the  giant  AGUE  fprings, 

"  And  wrapp'd  in  fogs  defcends  on  vampire  wings; 

"  Before,  with  fliudclering  limbs  cold  Tremor  reels,          365 

"  And  Fever's  burning  noftril  dogs  his  heels ; 

"  Loud  claps  the  grinning  Fiend  his  iron  hands, 

"  Stamps  with  black  hoof,  and  fhouts  along  the  lands; 

"  Withers  the  damafk  cheek,  unnerves  the  ilrong,       .  ; 

"  And  drives  with  fcorpion-lafh  the  fhrieking  throng.       370 

"  Oh,  Goddefs !  on  thy  kneeling  votaries  bend 

"  Thy  angel-looks,  oh,  hear  us,  and  defend!" 

— HYGEIA,  leaning  from  the  bleft  abodes, 

The  cryftal  manfions  of  the  immortal  gods, 

Saw  the  fad  Nymph  uplift  her  dewy  eyes,  375 

Spread  her  white  arms,  and  breathe  her  fervid  fighs  ; 

Call'd  to  her  fair  aflbciates,  Youth  and  Joy, 

And  fhot  all  radiant  through  the  glittering  fky ; 

Loofe  waved  behind  her  golden  train  of  hair, 

Her  fapphire  mantle  fwam  diffufed  in  air. —  380 

O'er  the  grey  matted  mofs,  and  panfied  fod, 

With  ftep  fublime  the  glowing  Goddefs  trodj 

Gilt  with  her  beamy  eye  the«confcious  fhade, 

And  with  her  fmile  celeftial  blefs'd  the  maid. 

•"  Come  to  my  arms,"  with  feraph  voice  fhe  cries,  385 

"  Thy  vows  are  heard,  benignant  Nymph!  arife; 

"  Where  yon  afpiring  trunks  fantaflic  wreath 

"  Their  mingled  roots,  and  drink  the  rill  beneath, 

"  Yield  to  the  biting  axe  thy  facred  wood, 

11  And  drew  the  bitter  foliage  on  the  flood."  390 

In  filent  homage  bow'd  the  blufliing  maid, — 

Five  youths  athletic  haften  to  her  aid, 


66  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

O'er  the  fcar'd  hills  re-echoing  ftrokes  refound, 

And  headlong  forefts  thunder  on  the  ground. 

Round  the  dark  roots,  rent  bark,  and  fhatter'd  boughs,    39$ 

From  ocherous  beds  the  fwelling  fountain  flows ; 

With  dreams  auftere  its  widening  margin  laves, 

And  pours  from  vale  to  vale  its  dufky  waves. 

— As  the  pale  fquadrons,  bending  o'er  the  brink, 

View  with  a  figh  their  alter'd  forms,  and  drink :  406 

Slow-ebbin^  life  with  refluent  crimfon  breaks 

o 

O'er  their  wan  lips,  and  paints  their  haggard  cheeks ; 

Through  each  fine  nerve  rekindling  tranfports  dart, 

Light  the  quick  eye,  and  fwell  the  exulting  heart. 

— Thus  ISRAEL'S  heaven-taught  chief  o'er  tracklefs  fands  405 

Led  to  the  fultry  rock  his  murmuring  bands. 

Bright  o'er  his  brows  the  forky  radiance  blazed, 

And  high  in  air  the  rod  divine  He  raifed. — 

O 

Wide  yawns  the  cliff! — amid  the  thirffcy  throng 

Rum  the  redundant  waves,  and  fhine  along;  410 

With  gourds,  and  fhellsj  and  helmets,  prefs  the  bands, 

Ope  their  parch'd  lips,  and  fpread  their  eager  hands, 

Snatch  their  pale  infants  to  the  exuberant  {hower, 

Kneel  on  the  ihatter'd  rock,  and  blefs  the  Almighty  Power. 

Bolfter'd  with  down,  amid  a  thoufand  wants,  415 

rale  Dropfy  rears  his  bloated  form,  and  pants ; 
'*  Quench  me,  ye  cool  pellucid  rills!"  he  cries, 
Wets  his  parch'd  tongue,  and  rolls  his  hollow  eyes. 
So  bends  tormented  TANTALUS  to  drink, 
While  from  his  lips  the  refluent  waters  ihrink;  420 

Again  the  rifing  ilream  his  bofom  laves, 
And  third:  confumes  him  'mid  circumfluent  waves. 
• — Divine  HYGEIA,  from  the  bending  iky 
Defcending,  liftens  to  his  piercing  cry  ; 
Aflumes  bright  DIGITALIS'  drefs  and  air,  425 

Her  ruby  cheek,  white  neck,  and  raven  hair ; 


Digitalis.  1.  425.  Of  the  clafs  Two  Powers.  Four  males,  one  female. 
Foxglove.  The  efFe.fl  of  this  plant  in  that  kind  of  Dropfy,  which  is  termed 
anafarca,  where  the  legs  and  thighs  are  much  fvvelled,  attended  \\ith  great 


CANTO  II.         LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  61 

Four  youths  protedl  her  from  the  circling  throng, 

And  like  the  Nymph  the  Goddefs  fteps  along. — 

— O'er  Him  She  waves  her  fei  pent-wreathed  wand, 

Cheers  with  her  voice,  and  raiies  with  her  hand,  430 

Warms  with  rekindling  bloom  his  vifage  wan, 

And  charms  the  fhapelefs  monfter  into  man. 

So  when  Contagion^  with  mephitic  breath, 
And  wither'd  Famine,  urged  the  work  of  death  \ 
Marfeilles'  good  Bifhop,  London's  generous  Mayor,         43$ 
With  food  and  faith,  with  medicine  and  with  prayer, 
Raifed  the  weak  head,  and  ftayed  the  parting  figii, 
Or  with  new  life  relumed  the  fwimming  eye. — 

difficulty  of  breathing,  is  truly  aftonifhing.  in  the  afcites,  accompanied 
with  anafarca,  of  people  paft  the  meridian  of  life,  it  will  alfo  fometimes  fuc- 
ceed.  The  method  of  adminiflering  it  requires  fome  caution,  as  it  is  liable, 
in  greater  dofes,  to  induce  very  violent  and  debiliating  ficknefs,  which  con- 
tinues one  or  two  days,  during  which  time  the  dropfical  colle&ion,  however, 
difappears.  One  large  fpoonful,  or  half  an  ounce,  of  the  following  decoc- 
tion, given  twice  a  day,  will  generally  fucceed  in  a  few  days.  But  in  more 
robuft  people,  one  large  fpocnful  every  two  hours,  till  four  fpoonfuls  arc 
taken,  or  till  ficknefs  occurs,  will  evacuate  the  dropfical  fwellings  with  greater 
certainty,  but  is  liable  to  operate  more  violently.  Boil  four  ounces  of  the 
frefh  leaves  of  purple  Foxglove  (which  leaves  may  be  had  at  all  feafons  of 
the  year)  from  two  pints  of  water  to  twelve  ounces;  add  to  the  {trained  li- 
quor, while  yet  warm,  three  ounces  of  rectified  fpirit  of  wine.  A  theory 
of  the  effects  of  this  medicine,  with  many  fuccefsful  cafes,  may  be  feen  in  a 
pamphlet,  called,  "  Experiments  on  Mucilaginous  and  Purulent  Matter," 
publifhed  by  Dr.  Darwin  in  1780.  Sold  by  Cadell,  London. 

Marfeilles''  good  Bijbop.  1.  435.  In  the  year  1 720  and  1722,  the  Plague 
made  dreadful  havock  at  Marfeilles;  at  which  time  the  Bifhop  was  indefa- 
tigable in  the  execution  of  his  paftoral  office,  vifiting,  relieving,  encourag- 
ing, and  abfolving  the  fick  with  extreme  tendernefs;  and  though  perpetually 
cxpofed  to  the  infedtion,  like  Sir  John  Lawrence,  mentioned  below,  they 
both  are  faid  to  have  eicaped  the  difeafe. 

London's  generous  Mayor.  1.  435.  During  the  great  Plague  at  London  in 
the  year  1665,  Sir  John  Lawrence,  the  then  Lord  Mayor,  continued  the 
whole  time  in  the  city;  heard  complaints,  and  redrefied  them;  enforced  the 
wifeft  regulations  then  known,  and  faw  them  executed.  The  day  after  the 
difeafe  was  known  with  certainty  to  be  the  Plague,  above  40,000  fervants 
were  difmifled,  and  turned  into  the  ftreets  to  perifh,  for  tto  one  wduld  receive 
them  into  their  houfes;  and  the  villages  near  Londdn  drove  them  away 
with  pitch-forks  and  fire-arms.  Sir  John  Lawrence  fupported  them  all,  as 
well  as  the  needy  who  were  fick,  at  firft  by  expending  his  own  fortune,  till 
fubfcriptions  could  be  folicited  and  received  from  all  parts  of  the  nation. 
Journal  of  tie  Plague-year.  Printed  for  E.  Nuttj  &c.  at  the  Royal  Ex- 
change, 1722. 


6t  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

—And  now,  PHILANTHROPY  !  thy  rays  divine 

Dart  round  the  globe  from  Zembla  to  the  Line;  440 

O'er  each  dark  prifon  plays  the  cheering  light, 

Like  northern  luftres  o'er  the  vault  of  night. — 

From  realm  to  realm,  with  crofs  or  crefcent  crown?d, 

Where'er  Mankind  and  Mifery  are  found, 

O'er  burning  fands,  deep  waves,  or  wilds  of  fnow,  445 

Thy  HOWARD,  journeying,  feeks  the  houfe  of  woe. 

Down  many  a  winding  ftep  to  dungeons  dank, 

Where  anguifh  wails  aloud,  and  fetters  clank  ; 

To  caves  beftrew'd  with  many  a  mouldering  bone,  , 

And  cells,  whofe  echoes  only  learn  to  groan;  450 

Where  no  kind  bars  a  whifpering  friend  difclofe, 

No  funbeam  enters,  and  no  zephyr  blows, 

HE  treads,  inemulous  of  fame  or  wealth, 

Profufe  of  toil  and  prodigal  of  health ; 

With  foft  afluafive  eloquence  expands  455 

Power's  rigid  heart,  and  opes  his  clenching  hands ,- 

Leads  ftern-ey'd  Juftice  to  the  dark  domains, 

If  not  to  fever,  to  relax  the  chains ; 

Or  guides  awaken'd  Mercy  through  the  gloom, 

And  {hews  the  prifon,  fifter  to  the  tomb  ! —  460 

Gives  to  her  babes  the  felf-devoted  wife, 

To  her  fond  hufband  liberty  and  life  ! 

— The  Spirits  of  the  Good,  who  bend  from  high 

Wide  o'er  thefe  earthly  fcenes  their  partial  eye, 

When  firft,  array'd  in  VIRTUE'S  pureft  robe,  465 

They  faw  her  HOWARD  traveriing  the  globe; 

Saw  round  his  brows  her  fun-like  Glory  blaze 

In  arrowy  circles  of  unwearied  rays ; 

Miftook  a  Mortal  for  an  Angel-Gueft, 

And  afk'd  what  Seraph-foot  the  earth  impreft.  470 

— Onward  he  moves! — Difeafe  and  Death  retire, 

And  murmuring  Demons  hate  him,  and  admire." 

Here  paufed  the  Goddefs, — on  HYGEIA'S  fhrine 
Obfequious  Gnomes  repofe  the  lyre  divine ; 


CANTO  II.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  63 

Defcending  Sylphs  relax  the  trembling  firings,  475 

And  catch  the  rain-drops  on  their  fhadowy  wings. 

— And  now  her  vafe  a  modeft  Naiad  fills 

With  liquid  cryftal  from  her  pebbly  rills ; 

Piles  the  dry  cedar  round  her  filver  urn, 

(Bright  climbs  the  blaze,  the  crackling  faggots  burn),       480 

Culls  the  green  herb  of  China's  envy'd  bowers, 

In  gaudy  cups  the  fteamy  treafure  pours ; 

And,  fweetly  fmiling,  on  her  bended  knee 

Prefents  the  fragrant  quinteflence  of  Tea. 


INTERLUDE    II. 


Bookseller.  JL  HE  monsters  of  your  Botanic  Garden  are  as  sur- 
prising as  the  bulls  with  brazen  feet,  and  the  fire-breathing  dra- 
gons, which  guarded  the  Hesperian  fruit ;  yet  are  they  not  dis- 
gusting, nor  mischievous:  and  in  the  manner  you  have  chained 
them  together  in  your  exhibition,  they  succeed  each  other  amus- 
ingly enough,  like  prints  of  the  London  Cries,  wrapped  upon 
rollers,  with  a  glass  before  them.  In  this,  at  least,  they  resemble 
the  monsters  in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses  ;  but  your  similies,  I  sup- 
pose, are  Homeric  ? 

Poet.  The  great  Bard  well  understood  how  to  make  use  of  this 
kind  of  ornament  in  Epic  Poetry.  He  brings  his  valiant  heroes 
into  the  field  with  much  parade,  and  sets  them  a  fighting  with 
great  fury;  and  then,  after  a  few  thrusts  and  parrie§,  he  intro- 
duces a  long  string  of  similies.  During  this  the  battle  is  supposed 
to  continue;  and  thus  the  time  necessary  for  the  action  ^  gained 
in  our  imaginations,  and  a  degree  of  probability  produced,  w4rich 
contributes  to  the  temporary  deception  or  reverie  of  the  reader. 

But  the  similies  of  Homer  have  another  agreeable  characteristic; 
they  do  not  quadrate,  or  go  upon  all  fours  (as  it  is  called),  like 
the  more  formal  similies  of  some  modern  writers;  any  one  re- 
sembling feature  seems  to  be,  with  him,  a  sufficient  excuse  for  the 
introduction  of  this  kind  of  digression.  He  then  proceeds  to  de- 
liver some  agreeable  poetry  on  this  new  subject,  and  thus  converts 
every  simiiie  into  a  kind  of  short  episode. 

B.  Then  a  simiiie  should  not  very  accurately  resemble  the 
subjecT:  ? 

P.  No;  it  would  then  become  a  philosophical  analogy ;  it  would 
be  ratiocination  instead  of  poetry :  it  need  only  so  far  resemble 
the  subject,  as  poetry  itself  ought  to  resemble  nature.  It  should 
have  so  much  sublimity,  beauty,  or  novelty,  as  to  interest  the 
reader;  and  should  be  expressed  in  picturesque  language,  so  as  to 
,  bring  the  scenery  before  his  eye ;  and  should,  lastly,  bear  so  much 

PART  II,  I 


66  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

veri-similitude  as  not  to  awaken  him  by  the  violence  of  improba- 
bility or  incongruity. 

B.  May  not  the  reverie  of  the  reader  be  dissipated  or  disturbed 
by  disagreeable  images  being  presented  to  his  imagination,  as  well 
as  by  improbable  or  incongruous  ones? 

P.  Certainly;  he  will  endeavour  to  rouse  himself  from  a  disa- 
greeable reverie,  as  from  the  nightmare.  And  from  this  may  be  dis- 
covered the  line  of  boundary  between  the  Tragic  and  the  Horrid  ; 
which  line,  however,  will  veer  a  little  this  way  or  thatj  according 
to  the  prevailing  manners  of  the  sge  or  country,  and  the  pecu- 
liar association  of  ideas,  or  idiosyncracy  of  mind,  of  individuals. 
For  instance,  if  an  artist  should  represent  the  death  of  an  officer 
in  battle,  by  shewing  a  little  blood  on  the  bosom  of  his  shirt,  as 
if  a  bullet  had  there  penetrated,  the  dying  figure  would  affect  the 
beholder  with  pity ;  and  if  fortitude  was  at  the  same  time  expressed 
in  his  countenance,  admiration  would  be  added  to  our  pity.  On 
the  contrary,  if  the  artist  should  chuse  to  represent  his  thigh  as 
shot  away  by  a  cannon  ball,  and  should  exhibit  the  bleeding  flesh 
and  shattered  bone  of  the  stump,  the  picture  would  introduce  into 
our  minds  ideas  from  a  butcher's  shop,  or  a  surgeon's  operation 
room,  and  we  should  turn  from  it  witli  disgust.  So  if  characters 
were  brought  upon  the  stage  with  their  limbs  disjointed  by  tor- 
turing instruments,  and  the  floor  covered  with  clotted  blood  and 
scattered  brains,  our  theatric  reverie  would  be  destroyed  by  disgust, 
and  we  should  leave  the  play-house  with  detestation. 

The  Painters  have  been  more  guilty  in  this  respect  than  the 
Poets.  The  cruelty  of  Apollo  in  Maying  Marsyas  alive  is  a  fa- 
vourite subject  with  the  ancient  artists :  and  the  tortures  of  ex- 
piring martyrs  have  disgraced  the  modern  ones.  It  requires  little 
genius  to  exhibit  the  muscles  in  convulsive  action,  either  by  the 
pencil  or  the  chissel,  because  the  interstices  are  deep,  and  the 
lines  strongly  defined:  but  those  tender  gradations  of  muscular 
action,  which  constitute  the  graceful  attitudes  of  the  body,  are 
difficult  to  conceive  or  to  execute,  except  by  a  master  of  nice  dis- 
cernment and  cultivated  taste. 

B.  By  what  definition  would  you  distinguish  the  Horrid  from 
the  Tragic  ? 

P.  I  suppose  the  latter  consists  of  Distress  attended  with  Pity, 
which  is  said  to  be  allied  to  Love,  the  most  agreeable  of  all  our 
passions;  and  the  former,  in  Distress,  accompanied  with  Disgust, 
which  is  allied  to  Hate,  and  is  one  of  our  most  disagreeable  sensa- 


INTERLUDE  II.  ..         67 

dons.  Hence,  when  horrid  scenes  of  cruelty  are  represented  in 
pictures,  we  wish  to  disbelieve  their  existence,  and  voluntarily 
exert  ourselves  to  escape  from  the  deception :  whereas  the  bitter 
cup  of  true  Tragedy  is  mingled  with  some  sweet  consolatory  drops, 
which  endear  our  tears,  and  we  continue  to  contemplate  the  in- 
teresting delusion  with  a  delight  which  is  not  easy  to  explain. 

B.  Has  not  this  been  explained  by  Lucretius,  where  he  de- 
scribes a  shipwreck,  and  says,  the  spectators  receive  pleasure  from 
feeling  themselves  safe  on  land  ?  and  by  Akenside,  in  his  beauti- 
ful poem  on  the  Pleasures  of  Imagination,  who  ascribes  it  to  our 
finding  objects  for  the  due  exertion  of  our  passions? 

P.  We  must  not  confound  our  sensations  at  the  contemplation 
of  real  misery  with  those  which  we  experience  at  the  scenical  re- 
presentations of  tragedy.  The  spectators  of  a  shipwreck  may  be 
attracted  by  the  dignity  and  novelty  of  the  object;  and  from  these 
may  be  said  to  receive  pleasure;  but  not  from  the  distress  of  the 
sufferers.  An  ingenious  writer,  who  has  criticised  this  dialogue  in 
the  English  Review,  for  August,  1 789,  adds,  that  one  great  source 
of  our  pleasure  from  scenical  distress,  arises  from  our,  at  the  same 
time,  generally  contemplating  one  of  the  noblest  objects  of  nature, 
that  of  Virtue  triumphant  over  every  difficulty  and  oppression, 
or  supporting  its  votary  under  every  suffering:  or,  where  this 
does  not  occur,  that  our  minds  are  relieved  by  the  justice  of  some 
signal  punishment  awaiting  the  delinquent.  But,  besides  this, 
at  the  exhibition  of  a  good  tragedy,  we  are  not  only  amused  by 
the  dignity,  and  novelty,  and  beauty,  of  the  objects  before  us, 
but,  if  any  distressful  circumstances  occur  too  forcibly  for  our 
sensibility,  we  can  voluntarily  exert  ourselves,  and  recollect,  that 
the  scenery  is  not  real;  and  thus  not  only  the  pain,  which  we  had 
received  from  the  apparent  distress,  is  lessened,  but  a  new  source 
of  pleasure  is  opened  to  us,  similar  to  that  which  we  frequently 
have  felt  on  awaking  from  a  distressful  dream :  we  are  glad  that  it 
is  not  true.  We  are,  at  the  same  time,  unwilling  to  relinquish 
the  pleasure  which  we  receive  from  the  other  interesting  circum- 
stances of  the  drama;  and,  on  that  account,  quickly  permit  our- 
selves to  relapse  into  the  delusion ;  and  thus  alternately  believe 
and  disbelieve,  almost  every  moment,  the  existence  of  the  ob- 
jects represented  before  us. 

B.  Have  those  two  sovereigns  of  poetic  land,  HOMER  and 
SHAKESPEARE,  kept  their  works  entirely  free  from  the  Horrid? 
— or  even  yourself,  in  your  third  Canto? 


68  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  JI. 

P.  The  descriptions  of  the  mangled  carcases  of  the  companions 
of  Ulysses,  in  the  cave  of  Polypheme,  is,  in  this  respect,  certainly 
objectionable,  as  is  well  observed  by  Scaliger.  And  in  the  play 
of  Titus  Andronicus,  if  that  was  written  by  Shakespeare  (which, 
from  its  internal  evidence,  I  think  very  improbable),  there  are 
many  horrid  and  .disgustful  circumstances.  The  following  Canto 
is  submitted  to  the  candour  of  the  critical  reader,  to  whose  opi- 
nion I  shall  submit  in  silence. 


THE 

BOTANIC  GARDEN 


LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS. 


CANTO  III. 

_/\.ND  now  the  Goddefs  founds  her  filver  fhell, 
And  fhakes  with  deeper  tones  the  inchanted  dell ; 
Pale,  round  her  graiTy  throne,  bedew'd  with  tears, 
Flit  the  thin  forms  of  Sorrows,  and  of  Fears ; 
Soft  Sighs,  refponiive,  whifper  to  the  chords, 
And  Indignations  half-unfheath  their  f words. 

"  Thrice  round  the  grave  CIRCLE  A  prints  her  tread, 
And  chaunts  the  numbers  which  difturb  the  dead; 


Circ<ea.  1.  7.  Enchanter's  Nightfhade.  Two  males,  one  female.  It  was 
much  celebrated  in  the  myfteries  of  witchcraft,  and  for  the  purpofe  of 
railing  the  devil,  as  its  name  imports.  It  grows  amid  the  mouldering  bones 
and  decayed  coffins  in  the  ruinous  vaults  of  Sleaford-church,  in  Lincolnlhire. 
The  fuperftitious  ceremonies  or  hiftories  belonging  to  fomc  vegetables  have 
been  truly  ridiculous:  Thus  the  Druids  are  faid  to  have  cropped  the  Aiif- 
letoe  with  a  golden  axe  or  fickle ;  and  the  Bryony,  or  Mandrake,  was  faid 
to  utter  a  fcream  when  its  root  was  drawn  from  the  ground;  and  that 
the  animal  which  drew  it  up  became  difeafed,  and  foon  died :  on  which  ac- 
count, when  it  was  wanted  for  the  purpofe  of  medicine,  it  was  ufual  to 
loofen  and  remove  the  earth  about  the  root,  and  then  to  tie  it,  by  means  of  a 
cord,  to  a  dog's  tail,  who  was  whipped  to  pull  it  up,  and  was  then  fuppofed 
to  fuffer  for  the  impiety  of  the  action.  And  even  at  this  day  bits  of  dried 
toot  of  Peony  are  rubbed  fmooth,  and  ftrung,  and  fold  under  the  name  of 
Anodyne  necklaces,  and  tied  round  the  necks  of  children,  to  faciliate  the 
growth  of  their  teeth:  add  to  this,  that  in  Price's  Hiftory  of  Cornwall,  a 
book  publifhed  about  ten  years  ago,  the  Virga  Divinatoria,  or  Divining 
Rod,  has  a  degree  of  credit  given  to  it.  This  rod  is  of  hazle,  or  other  light 
wood,  and  held  horizontally  in  the  hand,  and  is  laid  to  bow  towards  the 
ore  whenever  the  Conjuror  walks  over  a  mine.  A  very  few  years  ago,  in 
France,  and  even  in  England,  another  kind  of  divining  rod  has  been  ufed  to 
difcover  fprings  of  water  in  a  fimilar  manner,  and  gained  fome  credit.  And 
in  this  very  year,  there  were  many  in  France,  and  fome  in  England, 


70  .  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

Shakes  o'er  the  holy  earth  her  fable  plume, 

Waves  her  dread  wand,  and  ftrikes  the  echoing  tomb !        10 

• — Pale  fhoot  the  ftars  acrofs  the  troubled  night, 

The  timorous  moon  withholds  her  confcious  light ; 

Shrill  fcream  the  famiuYd  bats,  and  (hivering  owls, 

And  loud  and  long  the  dog  of  midnight  howls  ! — 

— Then  yawns  the  burfting  ground! — two  imps  obfcene    15 

Rife  on  broad  wings,  and  hail  the  baleful  queen ; 

Each  with  dire  grin  falutes  the  potent  wand, 

And  leads  the  Sorcerefs  with  his  footy  hand ;  .  ' 

Onward  they  glide,  where  fheds  the  fickly  yew, 

O'er  many  a  mouldering  bone,  its  nightly  dew ;  ?Q 

The  ponderous  portals  of  the  church  unbar, — 

Hoarfe  on  their  hinge  the  ponderous  portals  jar ; 

As  through  the  coloured  glafs  the  moon-beam  falls, 

Huge  ihapelefs  fpedtres  quiver  on  the  walls ; 

Low  murmurs  creep  along  the  hollow  ground,  25 

And  to  each  ftep  the  pealing  ailes  refound ; 

By  glimmering  lamps,  protecting  faints  among, 

The  fhrines  all  trembling  as  they  pafs  along, 

O'er  the  ftill  choir  with  hideous  laugh  they  move, 

(Fiends  yell  below,  and  angels  weep  above!)  30 

Their  impious  march  to  God's  high  altar  bend, 

With  feet  impure  the  facred  fteps  afcend; 

With  wine  unblefs'd  the  holy  chalice  ftain, 

Affume  the  mitre,  and  the  cope  profane ; 

To  heaven  their  eyes  in  mock  devotion  throw,  35 

And  to  the  crofs  with  horrid  mummery  bow; 

Adjure  by  mimic  rites  the  powers  above, 

And  plight  alternate  their  Satanic  love. 

Avaunt,  ye  Vulgar !   from  her  facred  groves, 
With  maniac  ftep  the  Pythian  LAURA  moves ;  -40 

who  underwent  an  enchantment  without  any  divining  rod  at  all,  and  believ- 
ed themfelves  to  he  affeded  by  an  invifible  agent,  which  the  Enchanter 
called  Animal  Magnetifm ! 

Laura.  I.  40.  Prunus.  Lauro-cerafus.  Twenty  males,  one  female.  The 
Pythian  prieftefs  is  fuppofed  to  have  been  made  drunk  with  infufion  of  lau- 
rel-leaves when  flie  delivered  her  oracles.  The  intoxication  or  infpiration 


CAN-TO  III.          LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  7* 

Full  of  the  God  her  labouring  bofom  fighs, 

Foam  on  her  lips,  and  fury  in  her  eyes, 

Strong  writhe  her  limbs,  her  wild  diflievelPd  hair 

Starts  from  her  laurel-wreath,  and  fwims  in  air. — 

While  twenty  Priefts  the  gorgeous  (hrine  furround,  45 

Ciri6lur'd  with  ephods,  and  with  garlands  crown'd, 

Contending  hods  and  trembling  nations  wait 

The  firm  immutable  behefts  of  Fate; 

— She  fpeaks  in  thunder  from  her  golden  throne, 

With  words  unwiWd,  and  wifdom  not  her  own.  50 

So  on  his  NIGHTMARE,  through  the  evening  fog, 
Flits  the  fquab  Fiend  o'er  fen,  and  lake,  and  bog ; 
Seeks  fome  love-wiider'd  Maid  with  fleep  opprefs'd, 
Alights,  and,  grinning,  fits  upon  her  breaft. 
— Such  as  of  late,  amid  the  murky  fky,  55 

Was  mark'd  by  FUSE  LI'S  poetic  eye  ; 
Whofe  daring  tints,  with  SHAKESPEARE'S  happieft  grace, 
Gave  to  the  airy  phantom  form  and  place. — 
Back  o'er  her  pillow  finks  her  blufhing  head, 
Her  fnow-white  limbs  hang  helplefs  from  the  bed ;  60 

While  with  quick  fighs,  and  fuffocative  breath, 
Her  interrupted  heart-pulfe  fwims  in  death. 
— Then  (hrieks  of  captur'd  towns,  and  widows'  tears, 
Pale  lovers  ftretch'd  upon  their  blood-ftain'd  biers, 
The  headlong  precipice  that  thwarts  her  flight,  65 

The  tracklefs  defert,  the  cold  ftarlefs  night, 
And  ftern-ey'd  Murderer,  with  his  knife  behind, 
In  dread  fucceflion  agonize  her  mind.  , 

is  finely  defcribed  by  Virgil.  JEa.  lib.  vi.  The  diftilkd  water  from  laurel- 
leaves  is,  perhaps,  the  moft  fudden  poifon  we  are  acquianted  with  in  this 
country.  1  have  feen  about  two  fpoonfuls  of  it  deftroy  a  large  pointer  dog 
in  lefs  than  ten  minutes.  In  a  fmaller  dofe  it  is  faid  to  produce  intoxication: 
on  this  account  there  is  reafon  to  believe  it  ads  in  the  fame  manner  as 
opium  and  vinous  fpirit;  but  that  the  dofe  is  not  fo  well  afcertained.  Sec 
note  on  Tremella.  It  is  ufed  in  the  Ratafie  of  the  diftillers,  by  which  fome 
dram-drinkers  have  been  fuddenly  killed.  One  pint  of  water,  dHliiled  from 
fourteen  pounds  of  black  cherry  ftones  bruifed,  has  the  fame  deleterious 
effed,  deftroying  as  fuddenly  as  laurel-water.  It  is  probable  Apricot-kernels, 
Peach-leaves,  Walnut-leaves,  and  whatever  pofleffes  the  kernel-flavour,  may 
kave  fimilar  qualities.  t  ^ 


?s  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

O'er  her  fair  limbs  convulfive  tremors  fleet, 

Start  in  her  hands,  and  ftruggle  in  her  feet ;  70 

In  vain  to  fcream  with  quivering  lips  ihe  tries, 

And  {trains  in  palfy'd  lids  her  tremulous  eyes ; 

In  vain  fhe  wills  to  run,  fly,  fwim,  walk,  creep ; 

The  WILL  preiides  not  in  the  bower  of  SLEEP. 

— On  her  fair  bofom  fits  the  Demon- Ape  75 

Ereft,  and  balances  his  bloated  ihape ; 

Rolls  in  their  marble  orbs  his  Gorgon-eyes, 

And  drinks  with  leathern  ears  her  tender  cries. 

Arm'd  with  her  ivory  beak,  and  talon-hands, 
Defcending  FICA  dives  into  the  fands;  80 

Chamber'd  in  earth,  with  cold  oblivion  lies ; 
Nor  heeds,  ye  Suitor-train,  your  amorous  fighs; 

The  V/ill  prefides  not.  1.  74.  Sleep  confiftsin  the  abolition  of  all  voluntary 
power,  both  over  our  mufcular  motions  and  our  ideas;  for  we  neither  walk 
nor  reaion  in  fleep.  But,  at  the  fame  time,  many  of  our  mufcular  motions, 
and  many  of  our  ideas,  continue  to  be  excited  into  adtion  in  confequence  of 
internal  irritations  and  of  internal  fenfations;  for  the  heart  and  arteries  con- 
tinue to  beat,  and  we  experience  variety  of  paflions,  and  even  hunger  and 
thirft,  in  our  dreams.  Hence  I  conclude,  that  our  nerves  of  fenfe  are  not 
torpid  or  inert  during  fleep;  but  that  they  are  only  precluded  from  the 
perception  of  external  obje&s,  by  their  external  organs  being  rendered  unfit 
to  tranfmit  to  them  the  appulfes  of  external  bodies,  during  the  fufpenfion  of 
the  power  of  volition;  thus  the  eye-lids  are  clofed  in  fleep,  and,  I  fuppofe, 
the  tympanum  of  the  ear  is  not  ftretched,  becaufe  they  are  deprived  of  the 
voluntary  exertions  of  the  mulcles  appropriated  to  thefe  purpofes;  and  it  is 
probable  fomething  limilar  happens  to  the  external  apparatus  of  our  other 
organs  of  fenfe,  which  may  render  them  unfit  for  their  office  of  perception 
during  fleep ;  for  milk  put  into  the  mouths  of  fleeping  babes  occasions  them 
to  fwallow  and  fuck ;  and,  if  the  eye-lid  is  a  little  opened  in  the  day-light  by 
the  exertions  of  diflurbed  fleep,  the  perfon  dreams  of  being  much  dazzled. 
See  firft  Interlude. 

When  there  arifes  in  fleep  a  painful  defire  to  exert  the  voluntary  motions, 
it  is  called  the  Nightmare,  or  Incubus.  When  the  fleep  becomes  fo  imperfect 
that  fome  mufcular  motions  obey  this  exertion  of  defire,  people  have  walked 
about,  and  even  performed  fome  domeftic  offices  in  fleep;  one  of  thefe  fleep- 
\valkers  I  have  frequently  feen ;  once  fhe  fmelt  of  a  tube-rofe,  and  fung,  and 
drank  a  diih  of  tea  in  this  ftate;  her  awaking  was  always  attended  with 
prodigious  furprize,  and  even  fear :  this  difeafe  had  daily  periods,  and  ieemed 
to  be  of  the  epileptic  kind. 

Ficus  indica.  1.  80.  Indian  Fig-tree.  Of  the  clafs  Polygamy.  This  large 
tree  rifes  with  oppofite  branches  on  all  fides,  with  long  egged  leaves;  each 
branch  emits  a  flender  flexile  depending  appendage  from  its  fummit,  like  a 
cord,  which  roots  into  the  earth,  and  rifes  again.  Sloan.  Hill,  of  Jamaica. 
Lin.  Spec.  Plant.  See  Capri-fkus. 


CANTO  III.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  ^3 

Erewhile  with  renovated  beauty  blooms, 

Mounts  into  air,  and  moves  her  leafy  plumes. 

—Where  HAMPS  and  MANIFOLD,  their  cliffs  among,     85 

Each  in  his  flinty  channel  winds  along ; 

With  lucid  lines  the  dufky  moor  divides, 

Hurrying  to  intermix  their  fitter  tides: 

Where  ftili  their  filver-bofom'd  Nymphs  abhor 

The  blood-fmear'd  manfion  of  gigantic  THOR, —  90 

— Erft,  fares  volcanic  in  the  marble  womb 

Of  cloud-wrapp'd  WETTON  raifed  the  mafly  dome; 

Rocks  rear'd  on  rocks  in  huge  disjointed  piles 

Form  the  tall  turrets,  and  the  lengthen'd  ailes ; 

Broad  ponderous  piers  fuftain  the  roof,  and  wide  9$ 

Branch  the  vaft  rainbow  ribs  from  fide  to  fide. 

While  from  above  defcends,  in  milky  ftreams, 

One  fcanty  pencil  of  illuiive  beams, 

Sufpended  crags  and  gaping  gulphs  illumes, 

And  gilds  the  horrors  of  the  deepened  glooms.  IOO 


Gigantic  Thor.  1.  90.  Near  the  village  of  Wetton,  a  mile  or  two  above 
Dove-Dale,  near  Afhburn,  in  Derbyfliire,  there  is  a  fpacious  cavern  about  the 
middle  of  the  afcent  of  the  mountain,  which  ftill  retains  the  name  of  Thor's 
houfe;  below  it  is  an  extenfive  and  romantic  common,  where  the  rivers 
Hamps  and  Manifold  fink  into  the  earth,  and  rife  again  in  Ham  gardens, 
the  feat  of  John  Port,  Efq.  about  three  miles  below.  Where  thefe  rivers  rife 
•again,  there  are  impreflions  refemblimg  Filh,  which  appear  to  be  of  Jafper 
bedded  in  Lime-ftone.  Calcareous  Spars,  Shells  converted  into  a  kind  of 
Agate,  corallines  in  Marble,  ores  of  Lead,  Copper,  and  Zinc,  and  many 
ftrata  of  Flint,  or  Chert,  and  of  Toadftone,  or  Lava,  abound  in  this  part  of 
the  country.  The  Druids  are  faid  to  have  offered  human  facrifices  inclofed 
in  wicker  idols  to  Thor.  Thurfday  had  its  name  from  this  Deity. 

The  broken  appearance  of  the  furface  of  many  parts  of  this  country;  with 
the  Swallows,  as  they  are  called,  or  bafons  on  fome  of  the  mountains,  like  vol- 
canic. Craters,  where  the  rain-water  finks  into  the  earth;  and  the  numerous 
large  Hones,  which  feem  to  have  been  thrown  over  the  land  by  volcanic  ex- 
plofions;  as  well  as  the  great  mafles  of  Toadftone  or  Lava ;  evince  the  exift- 
ence  of  violent  earthquakes  at  fome  early  period  of  the  world.  At  this  time 
the  channels  of  thefe  fubterraneous  rivers  feem  to  have  been  formed  when  a 
long  tract  of  rocks  were  raifed  by  the  fea  flowing  in  upon  the  central  fires, 
and  thus  producing  an  irrefiftible  explofion  of  fleam;  and  when  thefe  rocks 
again  fubfided,  their  parts  did  not  exaclly  corrcfpond,  but  left  a  long  cavity 
arched  over  in  this  operation  of  nature.  The  cavities  at  CalTleton  and  Bux- 
ton,  in  Derbyfliire,  feem  to  have  had  a  fimilar  origin,  as  well  as  this  cavern 
termed  Thor's  houfe.  See  Mr.  Wliitehurft's  and  Dr.  Hutton's  Theories 
of  the  Earth. 

PART  II.  K 


74  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

— Here  oft  the  Naiads,  as  they  chanced  to  play 

Near  the  dread  Fane  on  THOR'S  returning  day, 

Saw  from  red  altars  dreams  of  guiltlefs  blood 

Stain  their  green  reed-beds,  and  pollute  their  flood ; 

Heard  dying  babes  in  wicker  prifons  wail>  165 

And  fhrieks  of  matrons  thrill  the  affrighted  Gale  ; 

While  from  dark  eaves  infernal  Echoes  mock, 

And  Fiends  triumphant  fliout  from  every  rock  ! 

— So  ftill  the  Nymphs  emerging  lift  in  air 

Their  fnow- white  fhoulders  and  their  azure  hair;  no 

Sail  with  fweet  grace  the  dimpling  ftreams  along, 

Liftening  the  Shepherd's  or  the  Miner's  fong ; 

But,  when  afar  they  view  the  giant-cave, 

On  timorous  fins  they  circle  on  the  wave,' 

With  ftreaming  eyes  and  throbbing  hearts  recoil,  115 

Plunge  their  fair  forms,  and  dive  beneath  the  foil. — 

Clofed  round  their  heads  relu&ant  eddies  fink, 

And  wider  rings  fucceflive  dafli  the  brink. — 

Three  thoufand  fleps  in  fparry  clefts  they  ftray, 

Or  feek  through  fullen  mines  their  gloomy  way;  120 

On  beds  of  Lava  fleep  in  coral  cells, 

Or  ligh  o'er  jafper  rifh,  and  agate  (hells. 

Till,  where  famed  ILAM  leads  his  boiling  floods 

Through  flowery  meadows  and  impending  woods, 

Pleafed  with  light  fpring  they  leave  the  dreary  night>          125 

And  'mid  circumfluent  furges  rife  to  light ; 

Shake  their  bright  locks,  the  widening  vale  purfue, 

Their  fea-green  mantles  fringed  with  pearly  dew; 

In  playful  groups  by  towering  THORP  they  move, 

Bound  o'er  the  foaming  wears,  and  rufh  into  the  Dove*       130 

With  fierce  diftracled  eye  TMPATIENS  ftands, 
Swells  her  pale  cheeks,  and  brandifhes  her  hands, 

Impatient.  \.  131.  Touch  me  not.  The  feed-veflel  confifts  of  one  cell 
•with  five  divifions;  each  of  thefe,  when  the  feed  is  ripe,  on  being  touched 
fuddenly  folds  itfelf  into  a  fpiral  form,  leaps  from  the  ftalk,  and  difperfes  the 
feeds  to  a  great  diftance  by  its  elafticity.  The  capfule  of  the  geranium  and 
the  beard  of  wild  oats  are  tvvifted  for  a  fimilar  purpofe,  and  diflodge  their 
feeds  on  wet  days,  when  the  ground  is  beft  fitted  to  receive  them.  Hence 
one  of  thefe,  with  its  adhering  capfule  or  beard  fixed  on  a  {land,  ferves  the 


CANTO  III.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  7$ 

With  rage  and  hate  the  aftonifh'd  groves  alarms, 

And  hurls  her  infants  from  her  frantic  arms. 

— So  when  MED^A  left  her  native  foil  135 

Unaw'd  by  danger,  unfuhdued  by  toil ; 

Her  weeping  lire  and  beckoning  friends  withftood, 

And  launched  enamour'd  on  the  boiling  flood; 

One  ruddy  boy  her  gentle  lips  carefs'd, 

And  one  fair  girl  was  pillow'd  on  her  breaft;  140 

While  high  in  air  the  golden  treafure  burns, 

And  Love  and  Glory  guide  the  prow  by  turns. 

But,  when  Theflalia's  inaufpicious  plain 

Received  the  matron-heroine  from  the  main ; 

While  horns  of  triumph  found,  and  altars  burn,  145 

And  (homing  nations  hail  their  Chief's  return; 

Aghaft,  She  faw  new-deck'd  the  nuptial  bed, 

And  proud  CREUSA  to  the  temple  led; 

Saw  her  in  JASON'S  mercenary  arms 

Deride  her  virtues,  and  infult  her  charms ;.  *5° 

Saw  her  dear  babes  from  fame  and  empire  torn, 

In  foreign  realms  deferted  and  forlorn ; 

Her  love  rejected,  and  her  vengeance  braved, 

By  Him  her  beauties  won,  her  virtues  faved. — 

With  ftern  regard  fhe  eyed  the  traitor-king,  155 

And  felt,  Ingratitude !  thy  keeneft  fting ; 

purpofe  of  an  hygrometer,  twifting  itfelf  more  or  lefs  according  to  the 
moifture  of  the  air. 

The  awn  of  barley  is  furnifhed  with  ftiff  points,  which,  like  the  teeth  of 
a  faw,  are  all  turned  towards  the  point  of  it;  as  this  long  awn  lies  upon  the 
ground,  it  extends  itfelf  in  the  moift  air  of  night,  and  pufhes  forwards  the 
barley  corn,  which  it  adheres  to;  in  the  day  it  fhortens  as  it  dries;  and  as 
thefe  points  prevent  it  from  receding,  it  draws  up  its  pointed  end;  and  thus, 
creeping  like  a  worm,  will  travel  many  feet  from  the  parent  ftem.  That 
very  ingenious  Mechanic  Philofopher,  Mr.  Edgworth,  once  made  on  this 
principle  a  wooden  automaton ;  its  back  confifted  of  foft  Fir-wood,  about 
an  inch  fquare  and  four  feet  long,  made  of  pieces  cut  the  crofs  way  in  re- 
fpe6t  to  the  fibres  of  the  wood,  and  glued  together:  it  had  two  feet  before, 
and  two  behind,  which  fupported  the  back  horizontally ;  but  were  placed 
with  their  extremities,  which  were  armed  with  iharp  points  of  iron,  bend- 
ing backwards.  Hence,  in  moift  weather,  the  back  lengthened,  and  the 
two  foremoft  feet  were  pufhed  forwards;  in  dry  weather  the  hinder  feet 
were  drawn  after,  as  the  obliquity  of  the  points  of  the  feet  prevented  it 
from  receding.  And  thus,  in  a  month  or  two,  it  walked  acrofs  the  room 
which  it  inhabited.  .  Might  not  this  machine  be  applied  as  an  Hygrometer 
to  fome  meteorological  purpofe  ? 


?6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II, 

*4  Nor  Heaven,"  fhe  cried,  "  nor  Earth,  nor  Hell  can  hold 

"  A  Heart  abandon'd  to  the  thirft  of  Gold !" 

Stamp'd  with  wild  foot,  and  fhook  her  horrent  brow, 

And  call'd  the  furies  from  their  dens  below.  1 60 

— Slow  out  of  earth,  before  the  feftive  crowds, 

On  wheels  of  fire,  amid  a  night  of  clouds, 

Drawn  by  fierce  fiends,  arofe  a  magic  car, 

Received  the  Queen,  and  hovering  flamed  in  air. — 

As  with  raifed  hands  the  fuppliant  traitors  kneel  165 

And  fear  the  vengeance  they  defer ve  to  feel, 

Thrice  with  parch'd  lips  her  guiltlefs  babes  (he  prefs'd, 

And  thrice  fhe  clafp'd  them  to  her  tortur'd  breaft; 

Awhile  with  white  uplifted  eyes  flie  flood, 

Then  plung'd  her  trembling  poniards  in  their  blood.  170 

"  Go,  kifs  your  fire!  go,  {hare  the  bridal  mirth!"' 

She  cry'd,  and  hurl'd  their  quivering  limbs  on  earth. 

Rebellowing  thunders  rock  the  marble  towers, 

And  red-tongued  lightnings  flioot  their  arrowy  fliowers ; 

Earth  yawns ! — the  crashing  ruin  finks  ! — o'er  all  175 

Death  with  black  hands  extends  his  mighty  Pall; 

Their  mingling  gore  the  Fiends  of  Vengeance  quaff, 

And  Hell  receives  them  with  convulfive  laugh. 

Round  the  vex'd  ifles  where  fierce  tornadoes  roar, 
Or  tropic  breezes  footh  the  fultry  fliore;  180 

What  time  the  eve  her  gauze  pellucid  fpreads 
O'er  the  dim  flowers,  and  veils  the  mifty  meads  ; 
Slow  o'er  the  twilight  fands  or  leafy  walks, 
With  gloomy  dignity  DICTAMNA  ftalks; 


DiSlamnus.  1.  184.  Fraxinella.  In  the  ftill  evenings  of  dry  feafons  this 
plant  emits  an  inflammable  air  or  gas,  and  fiaihes  on  the  approach  of  a  can- 
dle. There  are  inftances  of  human  creatures  who  have  taken  fire  fpontane- 
oufly,  and  been  totally  confumed.  Phil.  Tranf. 

The  odours  of  many  flowers,  fo  delightful  to  our  fenfe  of  fmell,  as  well  as 
the  difagreeable  fcents  of  others,  are  owing  to  the  exhalation  of  their  efiential 
oils.  Thefe  effential  oils  have  greater  or  lefs  volatility,  and  are  all  inflam- 
mable; many  of  them  are  poifons  to  us,  as  thofe  of  Laurel  and  Tobacco; 
others  poffefs  a  narcotic  quality,  as  is  evinced  by  the  oil  of  cloves  inftantly 
relieving  flight  tooth-achs;  from  oil  of  cinnamon  relieving  the  hiccup;  and 
balfam  of  peru  relieving  the  pain  of  fome  ulcers.  They  are  all  deleterious  to 
certain  infe&s,  and  hence  their  ufe  in  the  vegetable  economy  being  produced 


CANTO  III.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  77 

In  fulphurous  eddies  round  the  weird  dame  185 

Plays  the  light  gas,  or  kindles  into  flame. 

If  refts  the  traveller  his  weary  head, 

Grim  MANCINELLA  haunts  the  mofly  bed, 

Brews  her  black  hebenon,  and,  dealing  near, 

Pours  the  curft  venom  in  his  tortured  ear. —  190 

Wide  o'er  the  mad'ning  throng  URTICA  flings 

Her  barbed  {hafts,  and  darts  her  poifon'd  (lings. 


in  flowers  or  leaves  to  protect  them  from  the  depredations  of  their  voraci- 
ous enemies.  One  of  the  eflential  oils,  that  of  turpentine,  is  recommended 
by  M.  de  Thoffe,  for  the  purpofe  of  deftroying  infects  which  infed  both 
vegetables  and  animals.  Having  obferved  that  the  trees  were  attacked  by  mul- 
titudes of  fmall  infects  of  different  colours  (pucins  on  pucerons),  which  injur* 
ed  their  young  branches,  he  deftroyed  them  all  entirely  in  the  following 
manner:  he  put  into  a  bowl  a  few  handfuls  of  earth,  on  which  he  poured 
a  fmall  quantity  of  oil  of  turpentine ;  he  then  beat  the  whole  together  with 
a  fpatula,  pouring  on  it  water  till  it  became  of  the  confidence  of  foup :  with 
this  mixture  he  moiftened  the  ends  of  the  branches,  and  both  the  infedts 
and  their  eggs  were  deftroyed,  and  other  infects  kept  aloof  by  the  feent  of 
the  turpentine.  He  adds,  that  he  deftroyed  the  fleas  of  his  puppies  by  once 
bathing  them  in  warm  water,  impregnated  with  oil  of  turpentine.  Mem; 
d'Agriculture,  An.  1787.  Tremeft.  Printemp.  p.  109.  I  fprinkled  fomc 
oil  of  turpentine,  by  means  of  a  brufti,  on  fome  branches  of  a  nectarine 
tree,  which  was  covered  with  the  aphis,  but  it  killed  both  the  infect  and 
the  branches:  a  folution  of  arfenic  much  diluted  did  the  fame.  The  fhops 
of  medicine  are  fupph'ed  with  refins,  balfams,  and  eflential  oils;  and  the  tar 
and  pitch,  for  mechanical  purpofes,  are  produced  from  thefe  vegetable  fe- 
cretions. 

Manclnella.  \.  1 88.  Hyppomane.  With  the  milky  juice  of  this  tree  the 
Indians  poifon  their  arrows;  the  dew-drops,  which  fall  from  it,  are  fo  cauf- 
tic  as  to  blifter  the  flcin,  and  produce  dangerous  ulcers;  whence  many  have 
found  their  death  by  fleeping  under  its  fhade.  Variety  of  noxious  plants 
abound  in  all  countries ;  in  our  own,  the  deadly  nightfhade,  henbane,  hounds- 
tongue,  and  many  others,  are  feen  in  almoft  every  high  road,  untouched  by 
animals.  Some  have  alked,  what  is  the  ufe  of  fuch  abundance  of  poifons? 
The  naufeous  or  pungent  juices  of  fome  vegetables,  like  the  thorns  of  others, 
are  given  them  for  their  defence  from  the  depredations  of  animals ;  hence 
the  thorny  plants  are,  in  general,  wholefome  and  agreeable  food  to  grani- 
vorous  animals.  See  note  on  Ilex.  The  flowers  or  petals  of  plants  are, 
perhaps,  in  general,  more  acrid  than  their  leaves;  hence  they  are  much  fel- 
domer  eaten  by  infedts.  This  feems  to  have  been  the  ufe  of  the  efiential 
oil  in  the  vegetable  economy,  as  obferved  above,  in  the  notes  on  Didtamnus 
and  Ilex.  The  fragrance  of  plants  is  thus  a  part  of  their  defence.  Thefe 
pungent  or  naufeous  juices  of  vegetables  have  fupplied  the  fcience  of  medi- 
cine with  its  principal  materials,  fuch  as  purge,  vomit,  intoxicate,  &c. 

Urtica.  1.  191.  Nettle.  The  fting  has  a  bag  at  its  bafe,  and  a  perfora- 
tion near  its  point,  exactly  like  the  flings  of  wafps  and  the  teeth  of  adders. 
Hook,  Microgr.  p.  143.  Is  the  fluid  contained  in  this  bag,  and  prefled 
through  the  perforation  into  the  wound  made  by  the  point,  a  cauftic  eflen- 


;8  BOTANIC  GARDEN,  PAUT  IL 

And  fell  LOBELIA'S  fuffocating  breath 

Loads  the  dank  pinion  of  the  gale  with  death. 

• — With  fear  and  hate  they  blafl  the  affrighted  groves,      195 

Yet  own  with  tender  care  their  kindred  Loves  ! — 

So,  where  PALMIRA  'mid  her  wafted  plains, 
Her  (hatter'd  aquedudls,  and  proftrate  fanes, 
(As  the  bright  orb  of  breezy  midnight  pours 
Long  threads  of  filver  through  her  gaping  towers,  200 

O'er  mouldering  tombs,  and  tottering  columns  gleams,. 
And  frofts  her  deferts  with  difFufive  beams), 
Sad  o'er  the  mighty  wreck  in  filence  bends, 
Lifts  her  wet  eyes,  her  tremulous  hands  extends. — 
If  from  lone  cliffs  a  burfting  rill  expands  205 

Its  tranfient  courfe,  and  finks  into  the  fands ; 


tial  oil,  or  a  concentrated  vegetable  acid  ?  The  vegetable  poifons,  like  the 
animal  ones,  produce  more  fudden  and  dangerous  effects,  when  inftilled 
into  a  wound,  than  when  taken  into  the  ftomach;  whence  the  families  of 
Marfi  and  Pfilli,  in  ancient  Rome,  fucked  the  poifon,  without  injury,  out 
of  wounds  made  by  vipers,  and  were  fuppofed  to  be  indued  with  fuperna- 
tural  powers  for  this  purpofe.  By  the  experiments  related  by  Beccaria,  it 
appears,  that  four  or  five  times  the  quantity,  taken  by  the  mouth,  had 
about  equal  effects  with  that  infufed  into  a  wound.  The  male  flowers  of 
the  nettle  are  feparare  from  the  female,  and  the  anthers  are  feen,  in  fair 
weather,  to  burft  with  force,  and  to  difcharge  a  duft,  which  hovers  about 
the  plant  like  a  cloud. 

Lobelia.  1.  193.  Longiflora.  Grows  in  the  Weft-Indies,  and  fpreads 
fuch  deleterious  exhalations  around  it,  that  an  oppreffion  of  the  breaft  is 
felt  on  approaching  it  at  many  feet  diftance,  when  placed  in  the  corner  of  a 
room  or  hot-houfe.  Ingenhouz,  Exper.  on  Air,  p.  146.  Jacquini  hort.  bo- 
tanic. Vindeb.  The  exhalations  from  ripe  fruit,  or  withering  leaves,  are 
proved  much  to  injure  the  air  in  which  they  are  confined;  and,  it  is  proba- 
ble, all  thofe  vegetables  which  emit  a  ftrong  fcent  may  do  this  in  a  greater 
or  lefs  degree,  from  the  Role  to  the  Lobelia ;  whence  the  unwholefomenefs 
in  living  perpetually  in  fuch  an  atmolphere  of  perfume  as  fome  people  wear 
about  their  hair,  or  carry  in  theii  handkerchiefs.  Either  Boerhaave  or  Dr. 
Mead  have  affirmed,  they  were  acquainted  with  a  poifonous  fluid  whofe 
vapour  would  prefently  deflroy  the  perfon  who  fat  near  it.  And  it  is  well 
known,  that  the  gas  from  fermenting  liquors,  or  obtained  from  lime-ftone, 
will  deftroy  animals  immerfed  in  it,  as  well  as  the  vapour  of  the  Grotto  del 
Cani,  near  Naples. 

So,  'where  Palmira,  1. 197.  Among  the  ruins  of  Palmira,  which  are  dif- 
perfed  not  only  over  the  plains,  but  even  in  the  deferts,  there  is  one  fingle 
colonade  above  2600  yards  long,  the  bafes  of  the  Corinthian  columns  of 
which  exceed  the  height  of  a  man :  and  yet  this  row  is  only  a  fmall  part  of 
the  remains  of  that  one  edifice.  Volney's  Travels. 


CA*TO  III.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  79 

O'er  the  mM  rock  the  fell  Hyaena  prowls, 

The  Leopard  hifles,  and  the  Panther  growls ; 

On  quivering  wing  the  famifli'd  Vulture  fcreams, 

Dips  his  dry  beak,  and  fweeps  the  guihing  ftreams;          aio 

With  foaming  jaws,  beneath,  and  fanguine  tongue, 

Laps  the  lean  Wolf,  and  pants,  and  runs  along ; 

Stern  (lalks  the  Lion,  on  the  ruftling  brinks 

Hears  the  dread  Snake,  and  trembles  as  he  drinks  ; 

Quick  darts  the  fcaly  Monfter  o'er  the  plain,  215 

Fold,  after  fold,  his  undulating  train; 

And  bending  o'er  the  lake  his  crefted  brow, 

Starts  at  the  Crocodile  that  gapes  below. 

Where  feas  of  glafs  with  gay  reflection  fmile 
Round  the  green  coaft  of  Java's  palmy  ifle;  22O 

A  fpacious  plain  extends  its  upland  fcene, 
Rocks  rife  on  rocks,  and  fountains  gufli  between; 
Soft  zephyrs  blow,  eternal  fummers  reign, 
And  fhowers  prolific  blefs  the  foil, — in  vain ! 
— No  fpicy  nutmeg  fcents  the  vernal  gales,  225 

Nor  towering  plantain  (hades  the  mid-day  vales; 
No  grafly  mantle  hides  the  fable  hills, 
No  flowery  chaplet  crowns  the  trickling  rills ; 
Nor  tufted  mofs,  nor  leathery  lichen  creeps 
In  ruflet  tapeftry  o'er  the  crumbling  fteeps.  230 

— No  ftep  retreating,  on  the  fand  imprefs'd, 
Invites  the  vifit  of  a  fecond  gueft ; 
No  refluent  fin  the  unpeopled  flream  divides, 
No  revolant  pinion  cleaves  the  airy  tides ; 
Nor  handed  moles,  nor  beaked  worms  return,  235 

That  mining  pafs  the  irremeable  bourn. — 
Fierce  in  dread  filence  on  the  blafted  heath 
Fell  UPAS  fits,  the  HYDRA-TREE  of  death. 

Upas.  1.  238.  There  is  a  poifon-tree  in  the  ifland  of  Java,  which  is  faid, 
by  its  effluvia,  to  have  depopulated  the  country  for  iz  or  14  miles  round  the 
place  of  its  growth.  It  is  called,  in  the  Malayan  language,  Bohon-Upas; 
with  the  juice  of  it  the  mod  poifonous  arrows  are  prepared;  and,  to  gain 
this,  the  condemned  criminals  are  fent  to  the  tree,  with  proper  direction 
both  to  get  the  juice,  and  to  fecure  themfelves  from  the  malignant  exhala- 
tions of  the  tree;  and  are  pardoned  if  they  bring  back  a  certain  quantity  of 


8o  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

Lo !  from  one  root,  the  envenom'd  foil  below, 

A  thoufand  vegetative  ferpents  grow ;  240 

In  fhining  rays  the  fcaly  monfter  fpreads 

O'er  ten  fquare  leagues  his  far-diverging  heads ; 

Or  in  one  trunk  entwifts  his  tangled  form, 

Looks  o'er  the  clouds,  and  hifTes  in  the  ftorm. 

Steep'd  in  fell  poifon,  as  his  {liarp  teeth  part,  245 

A  thoufand  tongues  in  quick  vibration  dart; 

Snatch  the  proud  Eagle  towering  o'er  the  heath, 

Or  pounce  the  Lion,  as  he  (talks  beneath ; 

Or  drew,  as  marfhall'd  hofts  contend  in  vain, 

With  human  fkeletons  the  whiten'd  plain.  250 

• — Chain'd  at  his  root  two  fcion -demons  dwell, 

Breathe  the  faint  hifs,  or  try  the  (hriller  yell ; 

Rife,  fluttering  in  the  air  on  callow  wings, 

And  aim  at  infect-prey  their  little  flings. 

So  Time's  ftrong  arms  with  fweeping  fcythe  erafe  255 

Art's  cumberous  works,  and  empires,  from  their  bafe: 

While  each  young  Hour  its  fickle  fine  employs, 

And  crops  the  fweet  buds  of  domeftic  joys  ! 

With  blufhes  bright  as  morn  fair  ORCHIS  charms, 
And  lulls  her  infant  in  her  fondling  arms ;  260 


the  poifon.  But,  by  the  rcglfters  there  kept,  not  one  in  four  are  faid  to  re- 
turn. Not  only  animals  of  all  kinds,  both  quadrupeds,  fifli,  and  birds,  but 
all  kinds  of  vegetables  alfo,  are  deftroyed  by  the  effluvia  of  the  noxions  tree; 
fo  that,  in  a  diflricl  of  12  or  14  miles  round  it,  the  face  of  the  earth  is  quite 
barren  and  rocky,  intermixed  only  with  the  flceletons  of  men  and  animals, 
affording  a  fcene  of  melancholy  beyond  what  poets  have  defcribed  or  painters 
delineated.  Two  younger  trees  of  its  own  ipecies  are  faid  to  grow  near  it. 
See  London  Magazine  for  1784  or  1783.  Tranilated  from  a  defcription  of 
the  poifon-tree  of  the  ifland  of  Java,  written  in  Dutch,  by  N.  P.  Foerfch. 
For  a  further  account  of  it,  fee  a  note  at  the  end  of  the  work. 

Orcbh.  1.  259.  The  Orchis  morio  in  the  circumftance  of  the  parent-root 
fhrivelling  up  and  dying,  as  the  young  one  increafes,  is  not  only  analogous  to 
other  tuberous  or  knobby  roots,  but  alfo  to  fome  bulbous  roots,  as  the  tulip. 
The  manner  of  the  produ&ion  of  herbaceous  plants  from  their  various  pe- 
rennial roots,  feems  to  want  further  inveftigation,  as  their  analogy  is  not  yet 
clearly  eftablifhed.  The  caudex,  or  true  root,  in  the  orchis,  lies  above  the 
knob ;  and  from  this  part  the  fibrous  roots  and  the  new  knob  are  produced. 
In  the  tulip  the  caudex  lies  below  the  bulb;  from  whence  proceed  the  fibrous 
roots  and  the  new  bulbs:  the  loot,  after  it  has  flowered,  dies  like  the 
orchis-root;  for  the  item  of  the  lafl  year's  tulip  lies  on  the  outfide. 


CANTO  III.          LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  8r 

Soft  plays  Affeftion  round  her  bofom's  throne, 

And  guards  his  life,  forgetful  of  her  own. 

So  wings  the  wounded  deer  her  headlong  flight, 

Pierced  by  fome  ambuuYd  archer  of  the  night, 

Shoots  to  the  woodlands  with  her  bounding  tawn,  265 

And  drops  of  blood  bedew  the  confcious  lawn ; 

There,  hid  in  (hades,  fhe  (huns  the  cheerful  day, 

Hangs  o'er  her  young,  and  weeps  her  life  away* 

So  flood  Eliza  on  the  wood-crown'd  height, 
O'er  Minden's  plain,  fpe6tatrefs  of  the  fight;  270 

Sought  with  bold  eye  amid  the  bloody  ftrife 
Her  dearer  felf,  the  partner  of  her  life ; 
From  hill  to  hill  the  rufhing  h.oft  purfued, 
And  view'd  his  banner,  or  believed  {he  view'd. 


and  not  in  the  centre  of  the  bulb ;  which,  I  am  informed,  does  not  hap» 
pen  in  the  three  or  four  firft  years  when  .raifed  from  feed,  when  it  only 
produces  a  ftem,  and  flender  leaves  without  flowering.  In  the  tulip-root 
diffeded  in  the  early  fpring,  juft  before  it  begins  to  ihoot,  a  perfect  flower 
is  feen  in  its  centre ;  and  between  the  firft  and  fecond  coat  the  large  next 
year's  bulb  is,  I  believe,  produced ;  between  the  fecond  and  third  coat,  and 
between  this  and  the  fourth  coat,  and  perhaps  further,  other  lefs  and  lefs 
bulbs  are  vifible,  all  adjoining  to  the  caudex  at  the  bottom  of  the  mother 
bulb ;  and  which,  I  am  told,  require  as  many  years  before  they  will  flower 
as  the  number  of  the  coats  with  which  they  are  covered.  This  annual 
re-produclion  of  the  tulip-root  induces  fome  florifts  to  believe  that  tulip- 
roots  never  die  naturally,  as  they  lofe  fo  few  of  them;  whereas  the  hya- 
cinth-roots, I  am  informed,  will  not  laft  above  five  or  feven  years  after  they 
have  flowered. 

The  hyacinth-root  differs  from  the  tulip-root,  as  the  ftem  of  the  laft 
year's  flower  is  always  found  in  the  centre  of  the  root,  and  the  new  offsets 
arife  from  the  caudex  below  the  bulb,  but  not  beneath  any  of  the  concen- 
tric coats  of  the  root,  except  the  external  one;  hence  Mr.  Eaton,  an  inge- 
nious florift  of  Derby,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  moft  of  the  obfervations 
in  this  note,  concludes,  that  the  hyacinth-root  does  not  perifli  annually  after 
it  has  flowered,  like  the  tulip.  Mr.  Eaton  gave  me  a  tulip-root  which  had 
been  fet  too  deep  in  the  earth,  and  the  caudex  had  elongated  itfelf  near  aa 
inch,  and  the  new  bulb  was  formed  above  the  old  one,  and  detached  from  it, 
inftead  of  adhering  to  its  fide.  See  addit.  notes  to  Part  I.  No.  XIV. 

The  caudex  of  the  ranunculus,  cultivated  by  the  florifts,  lies  above  the 
claw-like  root;  in  this  the  old  root  or  claws  die  annually,  like  the  tulip  and 
jorchis,  and  the  new  claws,  which  are  feen  above  the  old  ones,  draw  down 
the  caudex  lower  into  the  earth.  The  fame  is  faid  to  happen  to  Scabiofa,  or 
Devil's  bit,  and  fome  other  plants,  as  valerian  and  greater  plantain;  the  new 
fibrous  roots  rifing  round  the  caudex  above  the  old  ones,  the  inferior  end  of 
the  root  becomes  (lumped,  as  if  cut  off,  after  the  old  fibres  are  decayed,  and  the 
caudex  is  drawn  down  into  the  earth  by  thefe  new  roots.  See  Arum  andTulipa. 

PART  II.  L 


Ss  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II> 

Pleafed  with  the  diftant  roar,  with  quicker  tread  275 

Faft  by  his  hand  one  lifping  boy  flie  led ; 

And  one  fair  girl  amid  the  loud  alarm 

Slept  on  her  kerchief,  cradled  by  her  arm ; 

While  round  her  brows  bright  beams  of  Honour  dart, 

And  Love's  warm  eddies  circle  round  her  heart.  280 

— Near  and  more  near  the  intrepid  Beauty  prefs'd, 

Saw  through  the  driving  finoke  his  dancing  creft ; 

Saw  on  his  helm,  her  virgin-hands  inwove, 

Bright  ftars  of  gold,  arid  myftic  knots  of  love ; 

Heard  the  exulting  fliout,  "  they  run  !  they  run  !"  285 

"  Great  God !"  flie  cried,  "  He's  fafe  !  the  battle's  won !" 

• — A  ball  now  hiffes  through  the  airy  tides, 

(Some  Fury  wing'd  it,  and  fome  Demon  guides  !) 

Parts  the  fine  locks  her  graceful  head  that  deck, 

Wounds  her  fair  ear,  and  finks  into  her  neck ;  290 

The  red  ftream,  iffuing  from  her  azure  veins, 

Dyes  her  white  veil,  her  ivory  bofom  ftains. — 

— "Ah  me!'*  (lie  cried,  and,  finking  on  the  ground, 

Kifs'd  her  dear  babes,  regardlefs  of  the  wound ; 

"  Oh,  ceafe  not  yet  to  beat,  thou  Vital  Urn  !  295 

"  Wait,  gufliing  Life,  oh,  wait  my  Love's  return  ! — 

"  Hoarfe  barks  the  wolf,  the  vulture  fcreams  from  far  ! — 

"  The  angel,  Pity,  fhuns  the  walks  of  war! — 

"  Oh,  fpare,  ye  War-hounds,  fpare  their  tender  age ! — 

"  On  nie,  on  me,"  (he  cried,  "  exhauft  your  rage!" —  300 

Then  with  weak  arms  her  weeping  babes  carefs'd, 

And,  fighing,  hid  them  in  her  blood-ftain'd  veft. 

From  tent  to  tent  the  impatient  warrior  flies, 
Fear  in  his  heart,  and  frenzy  in  his  eyes; 
Eliza's  name  along  the  camp  he  calls,  305 

Eliza  echoes  through  the  canvas  walls ; 
Quick  through  the  murmuring  gloom  his  footfteps  tread 
O'er  groaning  heaps,  the  dying  and  the  dead, 
Vault  o'er  the  plain,  and  in  the  tangled  woud, 
I/o !  dead  Eliza  weltering  iii  her  blood  !—  310 


CANTO  III.          LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  $3. 

—Soon  hears  his  liftening  fon  the  welcome  founds, 

With  open  arms  and  fparkling  eyes  he  bounds  :-— 

"  Speak  low,"  he  cries,  and  gives  his  little  hand, 

"  Eliza  fleeps  upon  the  dew-cold  fand; 

**  Poor  weeping  babe  with  bloody  ringers  prefs'd,  315 

"  And  tried  with  pouting  lips  her  milklefs  bread ; 

"  Alas !  we  both  with  cold  and  hunger  quake — 

"  Why  do  you  weep? — Mamma  will  foon  awake." 

— u  She'll  wake  no  more  !"  the  hopelefs  mourner  cried, 

Upturn'd  his  eyes,  and  clafp'cl  his  hands,  and  figh'd;        320 

Stretch'd  on  the  ground  awhile  entranced  he  lay, 

And  prefs'd  warm  kifTes  on  the  lifelefs  clay ; 

And  then  upfprung  with  wild  convulfive  ftart, 

And  all  the  Father  kindled  in  his  heart ;  -    324 

**  Oh,  Heavens,"  he  cried,  "  my  firft  rafh  vow  forgive ! 

"  Thefe  bind  to  earth,  for  thefe  I  pray  to  live!" — 

Round  his  chill  babes  he  wrapp'd  his  crimfon  veft, 

And  clafp'cl  them  fobbing  to  his  aching  bread. 

Two  Harlot-Nymphs,  the  fair  CUSCUTAS,  pleafe 
With  laboyr'd  negligence,  and  ftudied  eafe ;  335 


Cufcuta.  1.  329.  Dodder.  Four  males,  two  females.  This  parafite  plant 
(the  feed  fp  lilting  without  cotyledons)  protrudes  a  fpiral  body,  and  not 
endeavouring  to  root  itfelf  in  the  earth,  afcends  the  vegetables  in  its  vicinity, 
fpirally  W.  S.  E.  or  contrary  to  the  movement  of  the  fun;  and  abforbs  its 
nourifhment  by  veflels  apparently  inferted  into  its  fupporters.  It  bears  no 
leaves,  except  here  and  there  a  fcale,  very  fmall,  membranous,  and  clofe 
under  the  branch.  Lin.  Spec.  Plant,  edit,  a  Reichard,  vol.  i.  p.  353.  The 
Rev.  T.  Martyn,  in  his  elegant  letters  on  botany,  adds,  that,  not  content 
with  fupport,  where  it  lays  hold,  there  it  draws  its  nourifhment;  and  at 
length,  in  gratitude  for  all  this,  flrangles  its  entertainer.  Let.  xv.  A  con- 
teft  for  air  and  light  obtains  throughout  the  whole  vegetable  world ;  fhrubs 
rife  above  herbs;  and,  by  precluding  the  air  and  light  from  them,  injure 
or  deflroy  them;  trees  fuffocate  or  incommode  fhrubs;  the  parafite  climb- 
ing plants,  as  Ivy,  Clematis,  incommode  the  taller  trees;  and  other  parafites, 
which  exift  without  having  roots  on  the  ground,  as  Mifletoe,  Tillandfia, 
Epidendrum,  and  the  moffes  and  fungufes,  incommode  them  all. 

Some  of  the  plants  with  voluble  ftems  afcend  other  plants  fpirally  eaft- 
fouth-weft,  as  Humulus,  Hop,  Lonicera,  Honey-fuckle,  Tamus,  black  Bry- 
ony,  Helxine.  Others  turn  their  fpiral  ftems  weft-fouth-eaft,  as  Convolvu- 
lus, Corn-bind,  Phafeolus,  Kidney-bean,  Bafella,  Cynanche,  Euphorbia,  Eu- 
patorium.  The  proximate  or  final  caufes  of  this  difference  have  not  been 
iijveftigafeed.  Other  plants  are  furniftied  with  tendrils  for  the  purpofc  of 


84.  fcOTANIC  GARDEN".  PART  U, 

In  the  meek  garb  of  modeft  worth  difguifed, 

The  eye  averted,  and  the  fmile  chaftil'ed, 

With  fly  approach  they  fpread  their  dangerous  charms, 

And  round  their  victim  wind  their  wiry  arms. 

So  by  Scamander -when  LAOCOON  ftood,  335 

Where  Troy's  proud  turrets  glitter'd  in  the  flood 

Raifed  high  his  arm,  and  with  prophetic  call, 

To  fhrinking  realms  announced  her  fated  fall; 

Whirl'd  his  fierce  fpear  with  more  than  mortal  force, 

And  pierced  the  thick  ribs  of  the  echoing  horfe ;  340 

Two  Serpent-forms  incumbent  on  the  main, 

Lafhing  the  white  waves  with  redundant  train, 

Arch'd  their  blue  necks,  and  fliook  their  towering  crefls, 

And  ploughed  their  foamy  way  with  fpeckled  breafts ; 

Then>  darting  fierce  amid  the  affrighted  throngs,  345 

Roird  their  red  eyes,  and  (hot  their  forked  tongues. — 

— Two  daring  youths  to  guard  the  hoary  fire, 

Thwart  their  dread  progrefs,  and  provoke  their  ire. 

Round  fire  and  fons  the  fcaly  monfters  roll'd, 

Ring  above  ring,  in  many  a  tangled  fold,  350 

Clofe  and  more  clofe  their  writhing  limbs  furround, 

And  fix  with  foamy  teeth  the  envenom'd  wound. 

— With  brow  upturn'd  to  heaven,  the  holy  Sage 

In  filent  agony  fuftains  their  rage ; 

While  each  fond  youth,  in  vain,  with  piercing  cries,       355 

Bends  on  the  tortured  Sire  his  dying  eyes. 


tlimbing;  if  the  tendril  meets  with  nothing  to  lay  hold  of  in  its  firft  revolu- 
tion, it  makes  another  revolution;  and  fo  on  till  it  wraps  itfelf  quite  up  like 
a  cork-fcrew  ;  hence,  to  a  carelefs  obferver,  it  appears  to  move  gradually 
backwards  and  forwards,  being  feen  fometimes  pointing  caftward  and  feme- 
times  weflward.  One  of  the  Indian  graffes,  Panicum  arborefcens,  whofc 
item  is  no  thicker  than  a  goofe-quill  rifes  as  high  as  the  talleft  trees  in  this 
conteft  for  light  and  air.  Spec.  Plant,  a  Reichard,  vol.  i.  p.  161.  The 
tops  of  many  climbing  plants  are  tender  from  their  quick  growth;  and, 
•when  deprived  of  their  acrimony  by  boiling,  are  an  agreeable  article  of 
food.  The  Hop-tops  are  in  common  ufe.  I  have  eaten  the  tops  of  white 
Bryony,  Bryonia  alba,  and  found  them  nearly  as  grateful  as  Alparagus,  and 
think  this  plant  might  be  profitably  cultivated  as  an  early  garden-vegetable. 
The  Tamus  (called  black  Bryony)  was  lefs  agreeable  to  the  tafte  when 
boiled".  See  Galanthus. 


CANTO  III.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS,  8$ 

"  Drink  deep,  fweet  youths,"  fedu&ive  VrTis  cries, 
The  maudlin  tear-drop  glittering  in  her  eyes ; 
Green  leaves  and  purple  clufters  crown  her  head, 
And  the  tall  Thyrfus  flays  her  tottering  tread.  360 

— Five  haplefs  fwains,  with  foft  afTuaiive  finiles, 
The  harlot  mem.es  in  her  deathful  toils ; 
*'  Drink  deep,"  me  carols,  as  me  waves  in  air 
The  mantling  goblet,  "  and  forget  your  care." — 
O'er  the  dread  feaft  malignant  Chemia  fcowls,  365 

And  mingles  poifon  in  the  ne6tar'd  howls ; 
Fell  Gout  peeps,  grinning,  through  the  flimfy  fcene, 
And  bloated  Dropfy  pants  behind  unfeen ; 
Wrapp'd  in  his  robe  white  Lepra  hides  his  {tains, 
And  filerit  Frenzy,  writhing,  bites  his  chains, 

So  when  PROMETHEUS  brav'd  the  Thunderer's  ire, 
Stole  from  his  blazing  throne  ethereal  fire, 
And,  lantern'd  in  his  bread,  from  realms  of  day 
Bore  the  bright  treafure  to  his  Man  of  clay ; — 


Vit'is.  1.  357.  Vine.  Five  males,  one  female.  The  juice  of  the  ripe 
grape  is  a  nutritive  and  agreeable  food,  confifling  chiefly  of  fugar  and  mu- 
cilage. The  chemical  procefs  of  fermentation  converts  this  fugar  into  fpi- 
rit ;  converts  food  into  poifon !  And  it  has  thus  become  the  curfe  of  the 
Chriftian  world,  producing  more  than  half  of  our  chronical  difeafes;  which 
Mahomet  obferved,  and  forbade  the  ufe  of  it  to  his  difciples.  The  Ara- 
bians invented  diftillation  ;  and  thus,  by  obtaining  the  fpirit  of  fermented 
liquors  in  a  lefs  diluted  ftate,  added  to  its  deftrucT:ive  quality.  A  theory  of 
the  Diabetes  and  Dropfy,  produced  by  drinking  fermented  or  fpirituous 
liquors,  is  explained  in  a  Treatife  on  the  inverted  Motions  of  the  Lympha- 
tic Syftcm,  publifhed  by  Dr.  Darwin.  Cadel. 

Prometheus.  1.  371.  The  ancient  ftory  of  Prometheus,  who  concealed  in 
his  bofom  the  fire  he  had  ftclen,  and  afterwards  had  a  vulture  perpetually 
gnawing  his  liver,  affords  fo  apt  an  allegory  for  the  effects  of  drinking  fpi» 
rituous  liquors,  that  one  Ihould  be  induced  to  think  the  art  of  diftillation, 
as  well  as  fome  other  chemical  procefles  (fuch  as  calcining  gold),  had  been 
known  in  times  of  great  antiquity,  and  loft  again.  The  (wallowing  drama 
cannot  be  better  reprefented  in  hieroglyphic  language  than  by  taking  fire 
into  one's  bofom ;  and  certain  it  is,  that  the  general  effect:  of  drinking  fer- 
mented or  fpirituous  liquors,  is  an  inflamed  fchirrous,  or  paralytic  liver, 
with  its  various  critical  or  confequential  difeafes,  as  leprous  eruptions  on  the 
face,  gout,  dropfy,  epilepfy,  infanity.  It  is  remarkable,  that  all  the  difeafes 
from  drinking  fpirituous  or  fermented  liquors  are  liable  to  become  hereditary, 
even  to  the  third  generation,  gradually  increafing,  jf  the  caufe  be  continued, 
till  the  family  becomes  extinct. 


$6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IE 

High  on  cold  Caucafus  by  VULCAN  bound,  375 

The  lean  impatient  Vulture  fluttering  round, 

His  writhing  limbs  in  vain  he  twifrs  and  ftrains 

TO  break  or  loofe  the  adamantine  chains. 

The  gluttonous  bird,  exulting  in  his  pangs, 

Tears  his  fwoln  liver  with  remorfelefs  fangs.  380 

The  gentle  CYCLAMEN,  with  dewy  eye, 
Breathes  o'er  her  lifelefs  babe  the  parting  ligh ; 
And,  bending  low  to  earth,  with  pious  hands 
Inhumes  her  dear  departed  in  the  fands. 
"  Sweet  Nui  fling !  withering  in  thy  tender  hour,  385 

"Oh,  fleep,"  {he  cries.,  "  and  rife  a  fairer  flower!" 
— So  when  the  Plague  o'er  London's  gafping  crowds 
Shook  her  dank  wing,  and  fteer'd  her  murky  clouds; 
When  o'er  the  friendlefs  bier  no  rites  were  read, 
No  dirge  flow-chaunted,  and  no  pall  out-fpread;  390 

While  Death  and  Night  piled  up  the  naked  throng, 
And  Silence  drove  their  ebon  cars  along ; 
Six  lovely  daughters,  and  their  father,  fwept 
To  the  throng'd  grave  CLEONE  faw,  and  wept; 
Her  tender  mind,  with  meek  Religion  fraught,  395 

Drank,  all-refigned,  Affliction's  bitter  draught ; 
Alive,  and  liftening  to  the  whiiper'd  groan 
Of  others'  woes,  unconfcious  of  her  own  ! — 
One  fmiling  boy,  her  laft  fweet  hope,  fhe  warms, 
Hufh'd  on  her  bofom,  circled  in  her  arms. —  400 


Cyclamen.  \.  381.  Shew-bread,  or  Show-bread.  "When  the  feeds  are 
ripe,  the  flalk  of  the  flower  gradually  twifls  itfelf  fpirally  downwards,  till 
it  touches  the  ground,  and,  forcibly  penetrating  the  earth,  lodges  its  feeds, 
xvhich  are  thought  to  receive  nourifhment  from  the  parent  root,  as  they  are 
faid  not  to  be  made  to  grow  in  any  other  fituation. 

The  Trifolium  fubterraneum,  fubterraneous  trefoil,  is  another  plant  which 
buries  its  feeds,  the  globular  head  of  the  feed  penetrating  the  earth;  which, 
however,  in  this  plant,  may  be  only  an  attempt  to  conceal  its  feeds  from 
the  ravages  of  birds;  for  there  is  another  trefoil,  the  Trifolium  Globofum, 
or  globular  wooly-headed  trefoil,  which  has  a  curious  manner  of  conceal- 
ing its  feeds  ;  the  lower  florets  only  have  corols,  and  are  fertile  ;  the  upper 
ones  wither  into  a  kind  of  wool,  and,  forming  a  head,  completely  conceal 
the  fertile  calyxes.  Lin.  Spec.  Plant,  a  Reichard. 


CANTO  III.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  fc? 

Daughter  of  woe  !  ere  morn,  in  vain  carefs'd, 

Clung  the  <iold  babe  upon  thy  milklefs  breaft, 

With  feeble  cries  thy  laft  fad  aid  required, 

StretchM  its  ftiff  limbs,  and  on  thy  lap  expired  !  — 

— Long,  with  wide  eye-lids,  on  her  child  fhe  gazed,        40$ 

And  long  to  Heaven  their  tearlefs  orbs  fhe  raifed ; 

Then  with  quick  foot  and  throbbing  heart  fhe  found 

Where  Chartreufe  open'd  deep  his  holy  ground ; 

Bore  her  laft  treafure  through  the  midnight  gloom, 

And,  kneeling,  dropp'd  it  in  the  mighty  tomb;  410 

"  I  follow  next !"   the  frantic  mourner  faid, 

And,  living,  plunged  amid  the  fettering  dead. 

Where  vaft  Ontario  rolls  his  brinelefs  tides, 
And  feeds  the  tracklefs  forefts  on  his  fides, 
Fair  CASSIA,  trembling,  hears  the  howling  woods,  415 

And  trufts  her  tawny  children  to  the  floods. — 

Where  Chartreufe.  1.  408.  During  the  plague  in  London,  1665,  one  pit 
to  receive  the  dead  was  dug  in  the  Charter-houfe,  40  feet  long,  1 6  feet  wide, 
and  about  zo  feet  deep;  and  in  two  weeks  received  1114  bodies.  During 
this  dreadful  calamity  there  were  inftances  of  mothers  carrying  their  own 
children  to  thofe  public  graves,  and  of  people  delirious,  or  in  defpair  from 
the  lofs  of  their  friends,  who  threw  themfelvcs  alive  into  thefe  pits.  Jour- 
nal of  the  Plague-year  in  1665,  printed  for  E.  Nutt,  Royal  Exchange. 

Roils  his  brinelefs  tides.  \.  413.  Some  philofophers  have  believed  that  the 
continent  of  America  was  not  raifed  out  of  the  great  ocean  at  fo  early  a 
.period  of  time  as  the  other  continents.  One  reafon  for  this  opinion  was, 
becaufe  the  great  lakes,  perhaps  nearly  as  large  as  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
confift  of  frefh  water.  And,  as  the  fea-falt  feems  to  have  its  origin  from 
the  deftruclion  of  vegetable 'and  animal  bodies,  waflied  down  by  rains,  and 
carried  by  rivers  into  lakes  or  feas,  it  would  feem  that  this  fource  of  fea- 
falt  had  not  fo  long  exifted  in  that  country.  There  is,  however,  a  more  fa- 
tisfadlory  way  of  explaining  this  circumftance ;  which  is,  that  the  Ameri- 
can lakes  lie  above  the  level  of  the  ocean,  and  are  hence  perpetually  defalited 
by  the  rivers  which  run  through  them;  which  is  not  the  cafe  with  the  Me- 
diterranean, into  which  a  current  from  the  main  ocean  perpetually  paffes. 

CaJ/ia.  1.  415.  Ten  males,  one  female.  The  feeds  are  black,  the  ftamens 
gold-colour.  This  is  one  of  the  American  fruits  which  are  annually  thrown 
on  the  coafts  of  Norway ;  and  are  frequently  in  fo  recent  a  ftate  as  to  ve- 
getate, when  properly  taken  care  of.  The  fruit  of  the  anacardium,  cafhew* 
nut;  of  cucurbita  lagenaria,  bottle-gourd;  of  the  mimofa  fcandens,  co- 
coons; of  the  pifcidia  crythrina,  logwood-tree;  and  cocoa-nuts,  are  enu- 
merated by  Dr.  Tonning  (Amcen.  Acad.  149),  amongft  thefe  emigrant  feeds. 
The  fad  is  truly  wonderful,  and  cannot  be  accounted  for  but  by  the  exift- 
ence  of  under  currents  in  the  depths  of  the  ocean ;  or  from  vortexes  of  wa- 
ter pafling  from  one  country  to  another  through  caverns  of  the  earth, 


88  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

Cinctured  with  gold,  while  ten  fond  brothers  ftand, 

And  guard  the  beauty  on  her  native  land ; 

Soft  breathes  the  gale,  the  current  gently  moves, 

And  bears  to  Norway's  coafts  her  infanuloves.  420 


Sir  Hans  Sloane  has  given  an  account  of  four  Icinds  of  feeds,  which  are 
frequently  thrown  by  the  fea  upon  the  coafts  of  the  iflands  of  the  northern 
parts  of  Scotland.  Phil.  Tr'anf.  abridged,  vol.  iii.  p.  540.  Which  feeds 
are  natives  of  the  Weft-Indies,  and  feem  to  be  brought  thither  by  the 
Gulph-ftream  defcribed  below.  One  of  thefe  is  called,  by  Sir  H.  Sloane, 
Phafeolus  maximus  perennis,  which  is  often  thrown  alfo  on  the  coaft  of 
Kerry,  in  Ireland;  another  is  called,  in  Jamaica,  Horfe-eye-bean ;  and  a 
third  is  called  Niker,  in  Jamaica.  He  adds,  that  the  Lenticula  marina,  or 
Sargoffo,  grows  on  the  rocks  about  Jamaica,  is  carried  by  the  winds  and 
current  towards  the  coafts  of  Florida,  and  thence  into  the  North-American 
ocean,  where  it  lies  very  thick  on  the  furface  of  the  fea. 

Thus  a  rapid  current  paffes  from  the  Gulph  of  Florida  to  the  N.  E.  along 
the  coaft  of  North- America,  known  to  feamen  by  the  name  of  the  GUJ.PH- 
STREAM.  A  chart  of  this  was  publifhed  by  Dr.  Franklin  in  1768,  from 
the  information  principally  of  Capt.  Folger.  This  was  confirmed  by  the 
ingenious  experiments  of  Dr.  Blagden,  publifhed  in  1781;  who  found  that 
the  Water  of  the  Gulph-ftream  was  from  fix  to  eleven  degrees  warmer 
than  the  water  of  the  fea  through  which  it  ran;  which  muft  have 
been  occafioned  by  its  being  brought  from  a  hotter  climate.  He  afcribes 
the  origin  of  this  current  to  the  power  of  the  trade-winds,  which, 
blowing  always  in  the  fame  direction,  carry  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic 
ocean  to  the  weftward,  till  they  are  flopped  by  the  oppoiing  continent  on 
the  weft  of  the  Gulph  of  Mexico,  and  are  thus  accumulated  there,  and  run 
down  the  Gulph  of  Florida.  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  Ixxi.  p.  335.  Governor 
Pownal  has  given  an  elegant  map  of  this  Gulph-ftream,  tracing  it  from, 
the  Gulph  of  Florida,  northward,  as  far  as  Cape-Sable,  in  Nova-Scotia, 
and  then  acrofs  the  Atlantic  ocean  to  the  coaft  of  Africa,  between  the  Ca- 
nary lilands  and  Senegal,  increafing  in  breadth,  as  it  runs,  till  it  occupies 
five  or  fix  degrees  of  latitude.  The  Governor  likewife  afcribes  this  cur- 
rent to  the  force  of  the  trade-winds  protruding  the  waters  weftward,  till 
they  are«oppofed  by  the  continent,  and  accumulated  in  the  Gulph  of  Mexico. 
He  very  ingenioufly  obferves,  that  a  great  eddy  muft  be  produced  in  the 
Atlantic  ocean,  between  this  Gulph-ftream  and  the  wefterly  current  pro- 
truded by  the  tropical  winds;  and  in  this  eddy  are  found  the  immenfe  fields 
of  floating  vegetables,  called  Saragofa  weeds,  and  Gulph  weeds,  and  fome 
light  woods,  which  circulate  in  thefe  vaft  eddies,  or  are  occalionally  driven 
out  of  them  by  the  winds.  Hydraulic  and  Nautical  Obfervations,  by  Go- 
vernor Pownal,  1787.  Other  currents  are  mentioned  by  the  Governor  in 
this  ingenious  work,  as  thofe  in  the  Indian  Sea,  northward  of  the  line, 
which  are  afcribed  to  the  influence  of  the  Monfoons.  It  i$  probable  that, 
in  procefs  of  time,  the  narrow  tracT:  of  land  on  the  weft  of  the  Gulph  of 
Mexico,  may  be  worn  away  by  this  elevation  of  water  dafhing  againft  it, 
by  which  this  immenfe  current  would  ceafe  toexift,  and  a  wonderful  change 
take  place  in  the  Gulph  of  Mexico  and  Weft-Indian  iflands,  by  the  fubiiding 
of  the  fea,  which  might  probably  lay  all  thofe  ifland?  into  one,  or  join  them 
to  the  continent. 


CANTO  III.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS,  89 

— So  the  fad  mother,  at  the  moon  of  night, 

From  bloody  Memphis  flole  her  filent  flight ; 

Wrapp'd  her  dear  babe  beneath  her  folded  veft, 

And  clafp'd  the  treafure  to  her  throbbing  breaft, 

With  foothing  whifpers  hufh'd  its  feeble  cry,  42$ 

Prefs'd  the  foft  kifs,  and  breath'd  the  fecret  figh. — • 

— With  dauntlefs  flep  {he  feeks  the  winding  fhore, 

Hears  unappall'd  the  glimmering  torrents  roar ; 

With  Paper-flags  a  floating  cradle  weaves, 

And  hides  the  fmiling  boy  in  Lotus-leaves;  430 

Gives  her  white  bofom  to  his  eager  lips, 

The  falt-tears  mingling  with  the  milk  he  dps  5 

Waits  on  the  reed-crown'd  brink  with  pious  guile, 

And  trulls  the  fcaly  monfters  of  the  Nile. n 

— Erewhile  majeftic  from  his  lone  abode,  435 

Embaflfador  of  Heaven,  the  Prophet  trod > 
Wrench'd  the  red  fcourge  from  proud  Oppreflion's  hands, 
And  broke,  curft  Slavery !  thy  iron  bands. 

Hark  !  heard  ye  not  that  piercing  cry, 

Which  fhook  the  waves  and  rent  the  fky  ? — •  440 

E'en  now,  e'en  now,  on  yonder  Weftern  fhores 

Weeps  pale  Defpair,  and  writhing  Anguifh  roars: 

E'en  now  in  Afric's  groves  with  hideous  yell 

Fierce  SLAVERY  ftalks,  and  flips  the  dogs  of  hell; 

From  vale  to  vale  the  gathering  cries  rebound,  445 

And  fable  nations  tremble  at  the  found !— 

— YE  BANDS  OF  SENATORS!  whofe fuffrage fways 

Britannia's  realms,  whom  either  Ind  obeys; 

Who  right  the  injured,  and  reward  the  brave, 

Stretcii  your  ftrong  arm,  for  ye  have  power  to  fave!         450 

Throned  in  the  vaulted  heart,  his  dread  refort, 

Inexorable  CONSCIENCE  holds  his  court; 

With  ftill  fmall  voice  the  plots  of  Guilt  alarms, 

Bares  his  mafk'd  brpw,  his  lifted  hand  difarms ; 

But,  wrapp'd  in  night  with  terrors  all  his  own,  455 

He  fpeaks  in  thunder,  when  the  deed  is  done. 

PART  II.  M 


90  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

Hear  him,  yc  Senates !  hear  this  truth  fublime, 
*'  He,  who  allows  Oppreffion,  JJiares  the  crime" 

No  radiant  pearl,  which  crefted  Fortune  wears, 
No  gem,  that  twinkling  hangs  from  Beauty's  ears,  460 

Not  the  bright  ftars,  which  Night's  blue  arch  adorn, 
Nor  riling  funs  that  gild  the  vernal  morn, 
Shine  with  fuch  luftre  as  the  tear  that  flows 
Down  Virtue's  manly  cheek  for  others'  woes." 

Here  ceafed  the  MUSE,  and  dropp'd  her  tuneful  fhell,  465 
Tumultuous  woes  her  panting  bofom  fwell ; 
O'er  her  flufti'd  cheek  her  gauzy  veil  (he  throws, 
Folds  her  white  arms,  and  bends  her  laurel'd  brows ; 
For  human  guilt  awhile  the  Goddefs  fighs, 
And  human  forrows  dim  celeftial  eyes.  470 


INTERLUDE    III. 


Bookseller.  1  OETRY  has  been  called  a  sister-art  both  to  Paint- 
ing and  to  Music :  I  wish  to  know  what  are  the  particulars  of 
their  relationship? 

Poet.  It  has  been  already  observed,  that  the  principal  part  of 
the  language  of  poetry  consists  of  those  words,  which  are  expres- 
sive of  the  ideas,  which  we  originally  receive  by  the  organ  of  sight; 
and,  in  this,  it  nearly,  indeed,  resembles  painting;  which  can 
express  itself  in  no  other  way,  but  by  exciting  the  ideas  or  sensa- 
tions belonging  to  the  sense  of  vision.  But  besides  this  essential 
similitude  in  the  language  of  the  poetic  pen  and  pencil,  these 
two  sisters  resemble  each  other,  if  I  may  so  say,  in  many  of 
their  habits  and  manners.  The  painter,  to  produce  a  strong  ef- 
fect, makes  a  few  parts  of  his  picture  large,  distinct,  and  luminous, 
and  keeps  the  remainder  in  shadow,  or  even  beneath  its  natural 
size  and  colour,  to  give  eminence  to  the  principal  figure.  This 
is  similar  to  the  common  manner  of  poetic  composition,  where 
the  subordinate  characters  are  kept  down,  to  elevate  and  give  con- 
sequence to  the  hero  or  heroine  of  the  piece. 

In  the  south  aile  of  the  cathedral  church  at  Lichfield,  there  is 
an  ancient  monument  of  a  recumbent  figure;  the  head  and  neck 
of  which  lie  on  a  roll  of  matting,  in  a  kind  of  niche  or  cavern 
in  the  wall ;  and  about  five  feet  distant  hprizontally,  in  another 
opening  or  cavern  in  the  wall,  are  seen  the  feet  and  ankles,  with 
some  folds  of  garment,  lying  also  on  a  matt;  aad  though  the  in- 
termediate space  is  a  solid  stone-wall,  yet  the  imagination  supplies 
the  deficiency,  and  the  whole  figure  seems  to  exist  before  our 
eyes.  Does  not  this  resemble  one  of  the  arts  both  of  the  painter 
and  the  poet?  The  former  often  shews  a  muscular  arm  amidst  a 
group  of  figures,  or  an  impassioned  face;  and,  hiding  the  re- 
mainder of  the  body  behind  other  objects,  leaves  the  imagination 
to  complete  it.  The  latter,  describing  a  single  feature  or  attitude 
in  picturesque  words,  produces  before  the  mind  an  image  of  the 
whole. 


§*  BOTANIC  GARDEtf.  PART  II. 

I  remember  seeing  a  print,  in  which  was  represented  a  shrivel- 
led hand,  stretched  through  an  iron  grate,  in  the  stone  floor  of  a 
prison-yard,  to  reach  at  a  mess  of  porrage,  which  affected  me 
with  more  horrid  ideas  of  the  distress  of  the  prisoner  in  the  dun- 
geon below,  than  could  have  been,  perhaps,  produced  by  an  ex- 
hibition of  the  whole  person.  And,  in  the  following  beautiful 
scenery  from  the  Midsummer-night's  Dream,  (in  which  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  alter  the  place  of  a  comma,)  the  description  of 
the  swimming  step  and  prominent  belly  bring  the  whole  figure 
before  our  eyes  with  the  distinctness  of  reality. 

When  we  have  laugh'd  to  see  the  sails  conceive^ 
And  grow  big-bellied  with  the  wanton  wind  ; 
Which  she  with  pretty  and  with  swimming  gate, 
Following  her  womb,  (then  rich  with  my  young  squire,) 
Would  imitate,  and  sail  upon  the  land. 

There  is  a  third  sister-feature,  which  belongs  both  to  the  picto- 
Hal  and  poetic  art ;  and  that  is,  the  making  sentiments  and  pas- 
sions visible,  as  it  were,  to  the  spectator :  this  is  done  in  both 
arts  by  describing  or  pourtraying  the  effects  or  changes  which 
those  sentiments  or  passions  produce  upon  the  body.  At  the  end 
of  the  unaltered  play  of  Lear,  there  is  a  beautiful  example  of 
poetic  painting:  the  old  King  is  introduced  as  dying  from  grief 
for  the  loss  of  Cordelia.:  at  this  crisis,  Shakespeare,  conceiving 
the  robe  of  the  King  to  be  held  together  by  a  clasp,  represents 
him  as  only  saying  to  an  attendant  courtier,  in  a  faint  voice, 
«*  Pray,  Sir,  undo  this  button, — thank  you,  Sir,"  and  dies.  Thus, 
by  the  art  of  the  poet,  the  oppression  at  the  bosom  of  the  dying 
King  is  made  visible,  not  described  in  words. 

B.  What  are  the  features  in  which  these  sister-arts  do  not  re- 
semble each  other  ? 

P.  The  ingenious  Bishop  Berkeley,  in  his  Treatise  on  Vision, 
a  work  of  great  ability,  has  evinced,  that  the  colours  which  we 
see,  are  only  a  language  suggesting  to  our  minds  the  ideas  of  so- 
lidity and  extension,  which  we  had  before  received  by  the  sense 
of  touch.  Thus,  when  we  view  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  our  eye 
can  only  acquaint  us  with  the  colours  or  shades;  and  from  the 
previous  experience  of  the  sense  of  touch,  these  suggest  to  us  the 
cylindrical  form,  with  the  prominent  or  depressed  wrinkles  on  it. 
From  hence  it  appears,  that  there  is  the  strictest  analogy  between 


INTERLUDE  III.  93 

colours  and  sounds;  as  they  are  both  but  languages,  which  do  not 
represent  their  correspondent  ideas,  but  only  suggest  them  to  the 
mind,  from  the  habits  or  associations  of  previous  experience.  It 
is,  therefore,  reasonable  to  conclude,  that  the  more  artificial  ar- 
rangements of  these  two  languages,  by  the  poet  and  the  painter, 
bear  a  similar  analogy. 

But,  in  one  circumstance,  the  pen  and  the  pencil  differ  widely 
from  each  other;  and  that  is,  the  quantity  of  time  which  they  can 
include  in  their  respective  representations.  The  former  can  un- 
ravel a  long  series  of  events,  which  may  constitute  the  history  of 
days  or  years ;  while  the  latter  can  exhibit  only  the  actions  of  a 
moment.  The  poet  is  happier  in  describing  successive  scenes ; 
the  painter  in  representing  stationary  ones:  both  have  their  ad- 
vantages. 

Where  the  passions  are  introduced,  as  the  poet,  on  one  hand, 
has  the.  power  gradually  to  prepare  the  mind  of  his  reader  by  pre- 
vious climacteric  circumstances,  the  painter,  on  the  other  hand, 
can  throw  stronger  illumination  and  distinctness  on  the  principal 
moment  or  catastrophe  of  the  action  $  besides  the  advantage  he 
has  in  using  an  universal  language,  which  can  be  read  in  an  in- 
stant of  time.  Thus,  where  a  great  number  of  figures  are  all 
seen  together,  supporting  or  contrasting  each  other,  and  contribut- 
ing to  explain  or  aggrandize  the  principal  effect,  we  view  a  pic- 
ture with  agreeable  surprize,  and  contemplate  it  with  unceasing 
admiration.  In  the  representation  of  the  sacrifice  of  Jephtha's 
daughter,  a  print  done  from  a  painting  of  Ant.  Coypel,  at  one 
glance  of  the  eye  we  read  all  the  interesting  passages  of  the  last 
act  of  a  well- written  tragedy;  so  much  poetry  is  there  condensed 
into  a  moment  of  time. 

B.  Will  you  now  oblige  me  with  an  account  of  the  relation- 
ship between  Poetry,  and  her  other  sister,  Music? 

P.  In  the  poetry  of  our  language  I  don't  think  we  are  to  look 
,for  any  thing  analogous  to  the  notes  of  the  gamut:  for,  except, 
perhaps,  in  a  few  exclamations  or  interrogations,  we  are  at  liberty 
to  raise  or  sink  our  voice  an  octave  or  two  at  pleasure,  without 
altering  the  sense  of  the  words.  Hence,  if  either  poetry  or  prose 
be  read  in  melodious  tones  of  voice,  as  is  done  in  recitativo,  or  in 
chaunting,  it  must  depend  on  the  speaker,  not  on  the  writer:  for 
though  words  may  be  selected  which  are  less  harsh  than  others, 
that  is,  which  have  fewer  sudden  stops,  or  abrupt  consonants 
amongst  the  vowels,  or  with  fewer  sibilant  letters,  yet  this  does 


94  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

not  constitute  melody,  which  consists  of  agreeable  successions 
of  notes  referable  to  the  gamut;  or  harmony,  which  consists  of 
agreeable  combinations  of  them.  If  the  Chinese  language  has 
many  words  of  similar  articulation,  which  yet  signify  different 
ideas,  when  spoken  in  a  higher  or  lower  musical  note,  as  some 
travellers  affirm,  it  must  be  capable  of  much  finer  effect,  in  re- 
spect to  the  audible  part  of  poetry,  than  any  language  we  are  ac- 
quainted with. 

There  is,  however,  another  affinity  in  which  poetry  and  music 
more  nearly  resemble  each  other  than  has  generally  been  under- 
stood, and  that  is  in  their  measure  or  time.  There  are  but  two 
kinds  of  time  acknowledged  in  modern  music,  which  are  called 
triple  time  and  common  time.  The  former  of  these  is  divided  by 
bars,  each  bar  containing  three  crotchets,  or  a  proportional  num- 
ber of  their  subdivisions  into  quavers  and  semiquavers.  This 
kind  of  time  is  analogous  to  the  measure  of  our  heroic  or  iambic 
verse.  Thus  the  two  following  couplets 'are  each  of  them  divided 
into  five  bars  of  triple  time,  each  bar  consisting  of  two  crotchets 
and  two  quavers;  nor  can  they  be  divided  into  bars  analogous 
to  common  time,  without  the  bars  interfering  with  some  of  the 
crotchets,  so  as  to  divide  them. 

3  Soft  warbling  beaks  |.  in  each  bright  bios  |  som  move, 

4  And  vo  |  cal  rosebuds  thrill  |  the  inchanted  grove.  | 

In  these  lines  there  is  a  quaver  and  a  crotchet  alternately  in 
every  bar,  except  in  the  last,  in  which  the  in  make  two  semiqua- 
vers; the  e  is  supposed,  by  Grammarians,  to  be  cut  off,  which 
any  one's  ear  will  readily  determine  not  to  be  true. 

3  Life  buds  or  breathes  |  from  Indus  to  |  the  poles, 

4  And  the  |  vast  surface  kind  |  les,  as  it  rolls.  | 

In  these  lines  there  is  a  quaver  and  a  crotchet  alternately  in  the 
first  bar;  a  quaver,  two  crotchets,  and  a  quaver,  make  the  second 
bar.  In  the  third  bar  there  is  a  quaver,  a  crotchet,  and  a  rest 
after  the  crotchet,  that  is,  after  the  word  poles,  and  two  quavers 
begin  the  next  line.  The  fourth  bar  consists  of  quavers  and 
crotchets  alternately.  In  the  last  bar  there  is  a  quaver,  and  a  rest 
after  it,  viz.  after  the  word  kindles ;  and  then  two  quavers  and  a 
crotchet.  You  will  clearly  perceive  the  truth  of  this,  if  you  prick 
the  musical  characters  above-mentioned  under  the  verses. 


INTERLUDE  III.  95 

The  common  time  of  musicians  is  divided  into  bars,  each  of 
which  contains  four  crotchets,  or  a  proportional  number  of  their 
subdivision  into  quavers  and  semiquavers.  This  kind  of  musi- 
cal time  is  analogous  to  the  daclyle  verses  of  our  language,  the 
most  popular  instances  of  which  are  in  Mr.  Anstie's  Bath-Guide. 
In  this  kind  of  verse  the  bar  does  not  begin  till  after  the  first  or 
second  syllable;  and  where  the  verse  is  quite  complete,  and  writ- 
ten by  a  good  ear,  these  first  syllables,  added  to  the  last,  complete 
the  bar,  exactly,  in  this  also,  corresponding  with  many  pieces  of 
music : 

2  Yet  |  if  one  may  guess  by  the  |  size  of  his  calf,  Sir, 
4  He  |  weighs  above  twenty-three  |  stone  and  a  half,  Sir. 

2.  Master  |  Mamozet's  head  was  not  |  finished  so  soon, 
4  For  it  |  took  up  the  barber  a  |  whole  afternoon. 

In  these  lines  each  bar  consists  of  a  crotchet,  .two  quavers,  an- 
other crotchet,  and  two  more  quavers;  which  are  equal  to  four 
crotchets,  and,  like  many  bars  of  common  time  in  music,  may  be 
subdivided  into  two,  in  beating  time  without  disturbing  the  mea- 
sure. 

The  following  verses  from  Shenstone  belong  likewise  to  com- 
mon time : 

2  A  |  river  or  a  sea  | 

4  Was  to  him  a  dish  |  of  tea, 

And  a  king  |  dom  bread  and  butter. 

The  first  and  second  bars  consist  each  of  a  crotchet,  a  quaver, 
a  crotchet,  a  quaver,  a  crotchet.  The  third  bar  consists  of  a  qua- 
ver, two  crotchets,  a  quaver,  a  crotchet.  The  last  bar  is  not 
complete  without  adding  the  letter  A,  which  begins  the  first  line, 
and  then  it  consists  of  a  quaver,  a  crotchet,  a  quaver,  a  crotchet, 
two  quavers. 

It  must  be  observed,  that  the  crotchets  in  triple  time  are,  in  ge- 
neral, played  by  musicians  slower  than  those  of  common  time, 
and  hence  minuets  are  generally  pricked  in  triple  time,  and  coun- 
try dances  generally  in  common  time.  So  the  verses  above  related, 
which  are  analogous  to  triple  time,  are  generally  read  slower  than 
those  analogous  to  common  time;  and  are  thence  generally  used  for 


96  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

graver  compositions.  I  suppose  all  the  different  kinds  of  verses  to 
be  found  in  our  odes,  which  have  any  measure  at  all,  might  be 
arranged  under  one  or  other  of  these  two  musical  times ;  allowing 
a  note  or  two  sometimes  to  precede  the  commencement  of  the  bar, 
and  occasional  rests,  as  in  musical  compositions:  if  this  was  at- 
tended to  by  those  who  set  poetry  to  music,  it  is  probable  the 
sound  and  sense  would  oftener  coincide.  Whether  these  musical 
times  can  be  applied  to  the  lyric  and  heroic  verses  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  poets,  I  do  not  pretend  to  determine;  certain  it  is, 
that  the  daclyle  verse  of  our  language,  when  it  is  ended  with  a 
double  rhime,  much  resembles  the  measure  of  Homer  and  Vir- 
gil, except  in  the  length  of  the  lines. 

B.  Then  there  is  no  relationship  between  the  other  two  of 
these  sister-ladies,  Painting  and  Music? 

P.  There  is  at  least  a  mathematical  relationship,  or,  perhaps, 
I  ought  rather  to  have  said,  a  metaphysical  relationship,  between 
them.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  has  observed,  that  the  breadths  of  the 
seven  primary  colours  in  the  Sun's  image,  refracted  by  a  prism, 
are  proportional  to  the  seven  musical  notes  of  the  gamut,  or  to 
the  intervals  of  the  eight  sounds  contained  in  an  octave,  that  is? 
proportional  to  the  following  numbers : 

Sol.         La.  Fa.  Sol.       La.  Mi.         Fa.         Sol. 

Red.  Orange.  Yellow.  Green.  Blue.  Indigo.  Violet. 

ii  i              i            i  i  i 

9          16  10            9          16  16         9 

Newton's  Optics,  Book  I.  part  2.  prop.  3  and  6.  Dr.  Smith, 
in  his  Harmonics,  has  an  explanatory  note  upon  this  happy  disco- 
very, as  he  terms  it,  of  Newton.  Sect.  4.  Art.  7. 

From  this  curious  coincidence,  it  has  been  proposed  to  produce 
a  luminous  music,  consisting  of  successions  or  combinations  of  co- 
lours, analogous  to  a  tune  in  respect  to  the  proportions  above-men- 
tioned. This  might  be  performed  by  a  strong  light,  made  by  means 
of  Mr.  Argand's  lamps,  passing  through  coloured  glasses,  an<d  falling 
on  a  defined  part  of  a  wall,  with  moveable  blinds  before  them, 
which  might  communicate  with  the  keys  of  a  harpsichord,  and 
thus  produce,  at  the  same  time,  visible  and  audible  music  in  uni- 
son with  each  other. 

The  execution  of  this  idea  is  said,  by  Mr.  Guyot,  to  have  been 
attempted  by  Father  Caffel,  without  much  success. 


INTERLUDE  III.  ty 

If  this  should  b«  again  attempted,  there  is  another  curious  co- 
incidence between  sounds  and  colours,  discovered  by  Dr.  Darwin, 
of  Shrewsbury,  and  explained  in  a  paper  on  what  he  calls  Ocular 
Sfieftra,  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  vol.  Ixxvi.  which  might 
much  facilitate  the  execution  of  it.  In  this  treatise  the  Doctor  has 
demonstrated,  that  we  see  certain  colours,  not  only  with  greater 
ease  and  distinctness,  but  with  relief  and  pleasure,  after  having 
for  some  time  contemplated  other  certain  colours;  as  green  after 
red,  or  red  after  green;  orange  after  blue,  or  blue  after  orange; 
yellow  after  violet,  or  violet  after  yellow.  This,  he  shews,  arises 
from  the  ocular  speftrum  of  the  colour  last  viewed  coinciding  with 
the  irritation  of  the  colour  now  under  contemplation.  Now,  as 
the  pleasure  we  receive  from  the  sensation  of  melodious  notes, 
independent  of  the  previous  associations  of  agreeable  ideas  with, 
them,  must  arise  from  our  hearing  some  proportions  of  sounds 
after  others  more  easily,  distinctly,  or  agreeably ;  and  as  there  is  a 
coincidence  between  the  proportions  of  the  primary  colours,  and 
the  primary  sounds,  if  they  may  be  so  called ;  he  argues,  that  the 
same  laws  must  govern  the  sensations  of  both.  In  this  circum- 
stance, therefore,  consists  the  sisterhood  of  Music  and  Painting; 
and  hence  they  claim  a  right  to  borrow  metaphors  from  each  other; 
musicians  to  speak  of  the  brilliancy  of  sounds,  and  the  light  and 
shade  of  a  concerto ;  and  painters  of  the  harmony  of  colours,  and 
the  tone  of  a  picture.  Thus  it  is  not  quite  so  absurd  as  was  ima- 
gined, when  the  blind  man  asked  if  the  colour  scarlet  was  like 
the  sound  of  a  trumpet.  As  the  coincidence  or  opposition  of 
these  ocular  speftra  (or  colours  which  remain  in  the  eye  after 
we  have,  for  some  time,  contemplated  a  luminous  object),  are 
more  easily  and  more  accurately  ascertained,  now  their  laws  have 
been  investigated  by  Dr.  Darwin,  than  the  relitts  of  evanescent 
sounds  upon  the  ear,  it  is  to  be  wished  that  some  ingenious  musi- 
cian would  further  cultivate  this  curious  field  of  science:  for  if 
visible  music  can  be  agreeably  produced,  it  would  be  more  easy 
to  add  sentiment  to  it,  by  representations  of  groves  and  Cupids, 
and  sleeping  Nymphs  amid  the  changing  colours,  than  is  com- 
monly done  by  the  words  of  audible  music. 

B.  You  mentioned  the  greater  length  of  the  verses  of  Homer 
and  Virgil.  Had  not  these  poets  great  advantage  in  the  superi- 
ority of  their  languages  compared  to  our  own  ? 

P.  It  is  probable,  that  the  introduction  of  philosophy  into  a 
country  must  gradually  affect  the  language  of  it;  as  philosophy 

PART  II.  N 


58  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

converses  in  more  appropriated  and  abstracted  terms;  arid  thus, 
by  degrees,  eradicates  the  abundance  of  metaphor,  which  is  used 
hi  the  more  early  ages  of  society.  Otherwise,  though  the  Greek 
compound  words  have  more  vowels,  in  proportion  to  their  con- 
sonants, than  the  English  ones,  yet  the  modes  of  compounding 
them  are  less  general,  as  may  be  seen  by  variety  of  instances  given 
in  the  preface  of  the  translators,  prefixed  to  the  SYSTEM  OF  VE- 
GETABLES by  the  Lichfield  Society;  which  happy  property  of 
our  own  language  rendered  that  translation  of  Linnaeus  as  expres- 
sive and  as  concise,  perhaps  more  so  than  the  original. 

And,  in  one  respect,  I  believe  the  English  language  serves 
the  purpose  of  poetry  better  than  the  ancient  ones ;  I  mean  in  the 
greater  ease  of  producing  personifications;  for  as  our  nouns  have, 
in  general,  no  genders  affixed  to  them  in  prose-compositions,  and 
in  the  habits  of  conversation,  they  become  easily  personified  only 
by  the  addition  of  a  masculine  or  feminine  pronoun,  as, 

Pale  Melancholy  sits,  and  round  her  throws 
A  death-like  silence,  and  a  dread  repose. 

Pope's  Abelard, 

And,  secondly,  as  most  of  our  nouns  have  the  article  a  or  the 
prefixed  to  them  in  prose-writing  and  in  conversation,  they,  in  ge- 
neral, become  personified  even  by  the  omission  of  these  articles; 
as  in  the  bold  figure  of  Shipwreck  in  Miss  Seward's  Elegy  on 
Capt.  Cook : 

But  round  the  steepy  rocks  and  dangerous  strand 
Rolls  the  white  surf,  and  SHIPWRECK  guards  the  land. 

Add  to  this,  that  if  the  verses  in  our  heroic  poetry  be  shorter 
than  those  of  the  ancients,  our  words  likewise  are  shorter;  and, 
in  respect  to  their  measure  or  time,  which  has  erroneously  been 
called  melody  and  harmony,  I  doubt,  from  what  has  been  said 
above,  whether  we  are  so  much  inferior  as  is  generally  believed ; 
since  many  passages,  which  have  been  stolen  from  ancient  poets^ 
have  been  translated  into  our  language  without  losing  any  thing 
of  the  beauty  of  the  versification.  The  following  line,  translated 
from  Juvenal  by  Dr.  Johnson,  is  much  superior  to  the  original : 

•Slow  rises  Worth  by  Poverty  depress'd. 


INTERLUDE  III.  99 

The  original  is  as  follows : 

Difficile  emergunt,  quorum  virtutibus  obstat 
Res  angusta  domi. 

B.  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  acknowledge  the  thefts  of  the  modern 
poets  from  the  ancient  ones,  whose  works,  I  suppose,  have  been, 
reckoned  lawful  plunder  in  all  ages.  But  have  not  you  borrowed 
epithets,  phrases,  and  even  half  a  line  occasionally,  from  modern 
poets  ? 

jP.  It  may  be  difficult  to  mark  the  exact  boundary  of  what 
should  be  termed  plagiarism ;  where  the  sentiment  and  expression 
are  both  borrowed  without  due  acknowledgment,  there  can  be 
no  doubt; — single  words,  on  the  contrary,  taken  from  other  au- 
thors, cannot  convict  a  writer  of  plagiarism :  they  are  lawful  game, 
wild  by  nature,  the  property  of  all  who  can  capture  them; — and, 
perhaps,  a  few  common  flowers  of  speech  may  be  gathered,  as  we 
pass  over  our  neighbour's  inclosure,  without  stigmatising  us  with 
the  title  of  thieves ;  but  we.  must  not,  therefore,  plunder  his  culti- 
vated fruit. 

The  four  lines  at  the  end  of  the  plant  Upas  are  imitated  from 
Dr.  Young's  Night  Thoughts.  The  line  in  the  episode  adjoined 
to  Cassia,  "  The  salt  tear  mingling  with  the  milk  he  sips,"  is  from 
an  interesting  and  humane  passage  in  Langhorne's  Justice  of 
Peace.  There  are  probably  many  others,  which,  if  I  could  re- 
collect them,  should  here  be  acknowledged.  As  it  is,  like  exo- 
tic plants,  their  mixture  with  the  native  ones,  I  hope,  adds  beauty 
to  my  Botanic  Garden :  and  such  as  it  is,  Mr.  Bookseller,  I  now 
leave  it  to  you  to  desire  the  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  to  walk  in ; 
but,  please  to  apprize  them,  that,  like  the  spectators  at  an  un- 
skilful exhibition  in  some  village-barn,  I  hope  they  will  make 
Good-humour  one  of  their  party;  and  thus  theirselves  supply  the 
defects  of  the  representation. 


THE 

/         BOTANIC  GARDEN.          > 

LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS, 
CANTO  IV, 

IN  OW  the  broad  Sun  his  golden  orb  unflirouds, 

Flames  in  the  weft,  and  paints  the  parted  clouds; 

O'er  Heaven's  wide  arch  refracted  luftres  flow, 

And  bend  in  air  the  many-colour'd  bow. — 

— The  tuneful  Goddefs  on  the  glowing  fky  j 

Fix'd  in  mute  ecftafy  her  gliftening  eye ; 

And  then  her  lute  to  fweeter  tones  fhe  ftrung, 

And  fwell'd  with  fofter  chords  the  Paphian  fong. 

Long  ailes  of  Oaks  return'd  the  filver  found, 

And  amorous  Echoes  talk'd  along  the  ground;  10 

Pleafed  Lichfield  liffcen'd  from  her  facred  bowers, 

Bow'd  her  tall  groves,  and  fhook  her  (lately  towers. 

"  Nymph !  not  for  thee^the  radiant  day  returns, 
Nymph !  not  for  thee  the  golden  folftice  burns, 
Refulgent  CERE  A  ! — at  the  dufky  hour  15 

She  feeks  with  penfive  ftep  the  mountain-bower, 

P  leafed  Lichfield.  1.  II.  The  fcenery  defcribed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
firft  part,  or  Economy  of  Vegetation,  is  taken  from  a  botanic  garden  about  a 
mile  from  Lichfield. 

Ccrea.  1.  ij.  Ca&us  grandiflorus,  or  Cereus.  Twenty  males,  one  female. 
This  flower  is  a  native  of  Jamaica  and  Veracrux.  It  expands  a  moft  ex- 
quifitely  beautiful  corol,  and  emits  a  moft  fragrant  odour  for  a  few  hours  in 
the  night,  and  then  doles  to  open  no  more,  The  flower  is  nearly  a  foot  in 
diameter;  the  infide  of  the  calyx  of  a  fplendid  yellow,  and  the  numerous 
petals  of  a  pure  white :  it  begins  to  open  about  feven  or  eight  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  and  clofes  before  fun-rife  in  the  morning.  Martyn's  Letters,  p. 
394.  The  Ciftus  labdaniferus,  and  many  other  flowers,  lofe  their  petals 
after  having  been  a  few  hours  expanded  in  the  day-time;  for  in  thefe  plants 


*o£  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

Bright  as  the  blufh  of  rifing  morn,  and  warms 

The  dull  cold  eye  of  Midnight  with  her  charms. 

There  to  the  fkies  (he  lifts  her  penciled  brows, 

Opes  her  fair  lips,  and  breathes  her  virgin  vows;  2O 

Eyes  the  white  zenyth ;  counts  the  funs  that  roll 

Their  diftant  fires,  and  blaze  around  the  Pole ; 

Or  marks  where  Jove  directs  his  glittering  car 

O'er  Heaven's  blue  vault, — Herfelf  a  brighter  {tar. 

— There  as  foft  Zephyrs  fweep  with  paufing  airs  25 

Thy  fnowy  neck,  and  part  thy  fhadowy  hairs, 

Sweet  Maid  of  Night !  to  Cynthia's  fober  beams 

Glows  thy  warm  cheek,  thy  polifti'd  bofom  gleams, 

In  crowds  around  thee  gaze  the  admiring  fwains, 

And  guard  in  filence  the  enchanted  plains ;  30 

Drop  the  flill  tear,  or  breathe  the  impaffion'd  figh, 

And  drink  inebriate  rapture  from  thine  eye. 

Thus,  when  old  Needwood's  hoary  fcenes  the  Night 

Paints  with  blue  (hadow,  and  with  milky  light; 

Where  MUNDY  pour'd,  the  liftening  nymphs  among,         35 

JLoud  to  the  echoing  vales  his  parting  fong ; 

With  meafured  ftep  the  Fairy  Sovereign  treads, 

Shakes  her  high  plume,  and  glitters  o'er  the  meads; 

Round  each  green  holly  leads  her  fportive  train, 

And  little  footfteps  mark  the  circled  plain;  40 


the  ftigma  is  foon  impregnated  by  the  numerous  anthers :  in  many  flowers 
t)f  the  Ciftus  labdaniferus,  1  obferved  two  or  three  of  the  flamens  were  per- 
petually bent  into  contact  with  the  piflil. 

The  Nydtanthes,  called  Arabian  Jafmine,  is  another  flower  ^  which  ex- 
pands a  beautiful  corol,  and  gives  out  a  moft  delicate  perfume  during  the 
night,  and  not  in  the  day,  in  its  native  country,  whence  its  name;  botanical 
philofophers  have  not  yet  explained  this  wonderful  property;  perhaps  the 
plant  fleeps  during  the  day  as  fome  animals  do ;  and  its  odoriferous  glands 
(only  emit  their  fragrance  during  the  expanfion  of  the  petals;  that  is,  during 
its  waking  hours;  the  Geranium  trifte  has  the  fame  property  of  giving  up 
its  fragrance  only  in  the  night.  The  flowers  of  the  Cucurbita  lagdnaria  are 
faid  to  clofe  when  the  fun  fhines  upon  them.  In  our  climate  many  flowers, 
as  tragopogon,  and  hibifcus,  clofe  their  flowers  before  the  hottell  part  of  the 
day  comes  on;  and  the  flowers  of  fome  fpecies  of  cucubalus,  and  Silene,  vif- 
cous  campion,  are  clofed  all  day;  but  when  the -fun  leaves  them  they  expand, 
and  emit  a  very  agreeable  fcent;  whence  fuch  plants  are  termed  nodtiflora. 

Where  Mundy.  1.  35.  Alluding  to  an  ynpublifhed  poem  by  F.  N.  C.  Mundy, 
F.fq.  on  his  leaving  Needwood^Foreft.  See  the  paffage  in  the  notes  at  the 
%nd  of  this  volume. 


CANTO  IV.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  i©3 

Each  haunted  rill  with  filver  voices  rings, 
And  Night's  fweet  bird  in  livelier  accents  fings. 

Ere  the  bright  ftar,  which  leads  the  morning  fky, 
Hangs  o'er  the  blufhing  eaft  his  diamond  eye, 
The  chafte  TROP^O  leaves  her  fecret  bed  ;  45 

A  faint-like  glory  trembles  round  her  head  ; 
Eight  watchful  fwains,  along  the  lawns  of  night, 
With  amorous  fteps  purfue  the  virgin  light; 
O'er  her  fair  form  the  electric  luftre  plays, 
And  cold  (he  moves  amid  the  lambent  blaze.  ^Q 

So  {nines  the  glow-fly,  when  the  fun  retires, 
And  gems  the  night-air  with  phofphoric  fires; 
Thus  o'er  the  marfh  aerial  lights  betray, 
And  charm  the  unwary  wanderer  from  his  way, 


.  1.  45.  Majus.  Garden  Nafturtion,  or  greater  Indian  crefs; 
Eight  males,  one  female.  Mifs  E.  C.  Linnseus  firft  obferved  the  Tropaeo- 
lum  Majus  to  emit  fparks  or  flafhes  in  the  mornings  before  fun-rife,  during 
the  months  of  June  or  July,  and  alfo  during  the  twilight  in  the  evening, 
but  not  after  total  darknefs  came  on  ;  thefe  fingular  fcintillations  were  fhewn 
to  her  father  and  other  philofophers;  and  Mr.  Wilcke,  a  celebrated  ele&ri* 
cian,  believed  them  to  be  electric.  Lin.  Spec.  Plantar,  p.  490.  Swedim 
A&s  for  the  year  1763.  Pulteney's  View  of  Linnaeus,  p.  320.  Nor  is  this 
more  wonderful  than  that  the  ele<5trk  eel  and  torpedo  fhould  give  voluntary 
fhocks  of  ele  Aricity  ;  and  in  this  plant,  perhaps,  as  in  thofe  animals,  it  may 
be  a  mode  of  defence,  by  which  it  harafles  or  deftroys  the  night-flying  in- 
fedls  which  infeft  it  ;  and  probably  it  may  emit  the  fame  fparks  during  the 
day,  which  muft  be  then  invifible.  This  curious  fubjecT:  deferves  further  in- 
veftigation.  See  Di&amnus.  The  ceafing  to  fhine  of  this  plant  after  twi- 
light might  induce  one  to  conceive,  that  it  abforbed  and  emitted  light,  like 
the  Bolognian  Phofphorus,  or  calcined  eyfter-fhells,  fo  well  explained  by 
Mr.  B.  Wilfon,  and  by  T.  B.  Beccari.  Exper.  on  Phofphori,  by  B.  Wilfon. 
Dodfley.  The  light  of  the  evening,  at  the  fame  diftance  from  noon,  is  much 
greater,  as  I  have  repeatedly  obferved,  than  the  light  of  the  morning:  this  is 
owing,  I  fuppofe,  to  the  phofphoreicent  quality  of  almoft  all  bodies,  in  a 
greater  or  lei's  degree,  which  thus  abforb  light  during  the  fun-.fb.ine,  and  con- 
tinue to  emit  it  again  for  fome  time  afterwards,  though  not  in  fuch  quantity 
as  to  produce  apparent  fcintillations.  The  nedtary  of  this  plant  grows  from 
what  is  fuppofed  to  be  the  calyx;  but  this  fuppofed  calyx  is  coloured;  and, 
perhaps,  from  this  circumftance  of  its  bearing  the  nectary,  fhould  rather  be 
efteemed  a  part  of  the  corol.  See  an  additional  note  at  the  end  of  the  poem. 

Sojbines  the  glotv-fty.  1.  51.  In  Jamaica,  in  fome  feafons  of  the  year,  the 
fire-flies  arc  feen  in  the  evenings  in  great  abundance.  When  they  fettle  oa 
the  ground,  the  bull-frog  greedily  devours  them  ;  which  feems  to  have  gi- 
ven origin  to  a  curious,  though  cruel,  method  of  deftroying  thefe  animals: 
if  red-hot  pieces  of  charcoal  be  thrown  towards  them  in  the  duflc  of  the 
evening,  they  leap  at  them,  and,  haftily  fwallowing  them,  arc  burnt  to  death, 


to4  SOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

So  when  thy  King,  AfTyria,  fierce  and  proud^  55 

Three  human  vi&ims  to  his  idol  vow'd  ; 

Rear'd  a  vaft  pyre  before  the  golden  (hrine 

Of  fulphurous  coal,  and  pitch-exfudiiig  pine ;— - 

— Loud  roar  the  flames,  the  iron  noftrils  breathe, 

And  the  huge  bellows  pant  and  heave  beneath ;  60 

Bright  and  more  bright  the  blazing  deluge  flows, 

And,  white  with  fevenfold  heat,  the  furnace  glows. 

And  now  the  Monarch  fix'd  with  dread  furprife 

Deep  in  the  burning  vault  his  dazzled  eyes. 

*'  Lo  1  three  unbound  amid  the  frightful  glare,  65 

"  Unfcorch'd  their  fandals,  and  unfmg'd  their  hair ! 

"  And  now  a  fourth  with  feraph-beauty  bright 

"  Defcends,  accofts  them,  and  outfhines  the  light ! 

"  Fierce  flames  innocuous,  as  they  ftep,  retire ! 

"  And  flow  they  move  amid  a  world  of  fire !"  70 

He  fpoke, — to  Heaven  his  arms  repentant  fpread, 

And,  kneeling,  bow'd  his  gem-incircled  head. 

Two  Sifter-Nymphs,  the  fair  AVENAS,  lead 
Their  fleecy  fquadrons  on  the  lawns  of  Tweed ; 
Pafs  with  light  ftep  his  wave-worn  banks  along,  75 

And  wake  his  Echoes  with  their  filver  tongue ; 


Avcna.  1.  73.  Oat.  The  numerous  families  of  grafles  have  all  three 
males,  and  two  females,  except  Anthoxanthum,  which  gives  the  grateful 
fmell  to  hay,  and  has  but  two  males.  The  herbs  of  this  order  of  vegetables 
lupport  the  countlefs  tribes  of  graminivorous  animals.  The  feeds  of  the 
fmaller  kinds  of  grafles,  as  of  aira,  poa,  briza,  ftipa,  &c.  are  the  fuflenancc 
of  many  forts  of  birds.  The  feeds  of  the  large  grafles,  as  of  wheat,  barley, 
rye,  oats,  fupply  food  to  the  human  fpecies. 

It  feems  to  have  required  more  ingenuity  to  think  of  feeding  nations  of 
mankind  with  fo  fmall  a  feed,  than  with  the  potatoe  of  Mexico,  or  the  bread- 
fruit of  the  fouthern  iflands;  hence  Ceres,  in  Egypt,  which  was  the  birth- 
place of  our  European  arts,  was  defervedly  celebrated  amongft  their  divini- 
ties, as  well  as  Ofyris,  who  invented  the  Plough. 

Mr.  Wahlborn  obferves,  that  as  wheat,  rye,  and  many  of  the  grafles,  and 
plantain,  lift  up  their  anthers  on  long  filaments,  and  thus  expofe  the  enclof- 
ed  fecundating  duft  to  be  wafhed  away  by  the  rains,  a  fcarcity  of  corn  is 
produced  by  wet  fummers;  hence  the  neceflity  of  a  careful  choice  of  feed- 
wheat,  as  that  which  had  not  received  the  duft  of  the  anthers  will  not  grow, 
though  it  may  appear  well  to  the  eye.  The  ftraw  of  the  oat  feems  to  have 
been  the  firft  mufical  inftrument,  invented  during  the  paftoral  ages  of  the 
world,  before  tae  difcovery  of  metals.  See  note  on  Ciilus, 


CANTO  IV.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  ioj 

Or  touch  the  reed,  as  gentle  Love  infpires, 
In  notes  accordant  to  their  chafte  defires. 

I. 

"  Sweet  ECHO  !  fleeps  thy  vocal  fhell, 
"  Where  this  high  arch  o'erhangs  the  dell;  80 

"  While  Tweed  with  fun-refle£ting  ftreams 
"  Chequers  thy  rocks  with  dancing  beams  ? — 

II. 

"  Here  may  no  clamours  harfh  intrude, 
"  No  brawling  hound  or  clarion  rude ; 
"  Here  no  fell  beaft  of  midnight  prowl,  8.5 

"  And  teach  thy  tortured  cliffs  to  howl ! 

III. 

'  "  Be  thine  to  pour  thefe  vales  along 
"  Some  artlefs  Shepherd's  evening  fong ; 
"  While  Night's  fweet  bird,  from  yon  high  fpray 
"  Refponfive,  liftens  to  his  lay.  90 

IV. 

"  And  if,  like  me,  fome  love-lorn  maid 
"  Should  fing  her  forrows  to  thy  fhade, 
"  Oh,  (both  her  bread,  ye  rocks  around ! 
"  With  fofteft  fympathy  of  found." 

From  ozier  bowers  the  brooding  Halcyons  peep,  95 

The  Swans  purfuing  cleave  the  glaffy  deep, 

On  hovering  wings  the  wondering  Reed-larks  play, 

And  filent  Biiterns  liften  to  the  lay. — 

Three  fhepherd-fwains  beneath  the  beechen  fhades 

Twine  rival  garlands  for  the  tuneful  maids ;  100 

On  each  fmootli  bark  the  myftic  love-knot  frame, 

Or  on  white  fands  infcribe  the  favour'd  name. 

Green  fwells  the  beech,  the  widening  knots  improve, 

So  fpread  the  tender  growths  of  living  love ; 

Wave  follows  wave,  the  letter'd  lines  decay,  105 

So  Love's  foft  forms  uncultured  melt  away. 

From  Time's  remoteft  dawn  where  Cliina  brings 
In  proud  fucceffion  all  her  Patriot- Kings; 
PART  II.  O 


ro6  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

O'er  defert-fands,  deep  gulphs,  and  hills  fublime, 

Extends  her  maflfy  wall  from  clime  to  clime;  1 10 

With  hells  and  dragons  ere  (Is  her  Pagod-bowers, 

Her  filken  palaces  and  porcelain  towers ; 

With  long  canals  a  thoufand  nations  laves ; 

Plants  all  her  wilds,  and  peoples  all  her  waves ; 

Slow  treads  fair  CANNABIS  the  breezy  ftrand,  115 

The  diftaff  ftreams  difhevelPd  in  her  hand ; 

Now  to  the  left  her  ivory  neck  inclines, 

And  leads  in  Paphian  curves  its  azure  lines; 

Dark  waves  the  fringed  lid,  the  warm  cheek  glows, 

And  the  fair  ear  the  parting  locks  difclofe;  I2O 

Now  to  the  right  with  airy  fweep  ilie  bends, 

Quick  join  the  threads,  the  dancing  fpole  depends. 

— Five  Swains  attracted  guard  the  Nymph,  by  turns 

Her  grace  inchants  them,  and  her  beauty  burns; 

To  each  (he  bows  with  fweet  afluafive  fmile,  125 

Hears  his  foft  vows,  and  turns  her  fpole  the  while. 

So  when  with  light  and  fhade,  concordant  ftrife ! 
Stern  CLOTHO  weaves  the  chequer'd  thread  of  life; 
Hour  after  hour  the  growing  line  extends, 
The  cradle  and  the  coffin  bound  its  ends ;  130 

Soft  cords  of  filk  the  whirling  fpoles  reveal, 
If  (roiling  Fortune  turn  the  giddy  wheel ; 
But  if  fweet  Love  with  baby-fingers  twines, 
And  wets  with  dewy  lips  the  lengthening  lines, 


Cannabis.  I.  115.  Chinefe  Hemp.  Two  houfes.  Five  males.  A  new 
fpecies  of  hemp,  of  which  an  account  is  given  by  K.  Fitzgerald,  Efq.  in 
a  letter  to  Sir  Jofeph  Banks,  and  which  is  believed  to  be  much  fuperior 
to  the  hemp  of  other  countries.  A  few  feeds  of  this  plant  were  fown 
in  England  on  the  4th  of  June,  and  grew  to  fourteen  feet  feven  inches  in 
height  by  the  middle  of  October:  they  were  nearly  feven  inches  in  circum- 
ference, and  bore  many  lateral  branches,  and  produced  very  white  and  tough 
fibres.  At  fome  parts  of  the  time  thefe  plants  grew  nearly  eleven  inches 
in  a  week.  Phil.  Tranf.  vol.  Ixxii.  p.  46. 

Paphian  curves.  1.  1 1 8.  In  his  ingenious  work,  entitled,  The  Analyfis  of 
Beauty,  Mr.  Hogarth  believes  that  the  triangular  glafs,  which  was  dedicated 
to  Venus,  in  her  temple  at  Paphos,  contained  in  it  a  line  bending  fpirally 
round  a  cone,  with  a  certain  degree  of  curvature,  and  that  this  pyramidal 
outline  and  ferpentine  curve  conftitute  the  principles  of  Grace  and  Beauty. 


CANTO  IV.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  107 

Skein  after  (kein  ceieftial  tints  unfold,  135 

And  all  the  filken  tiflue  fhines  with  gold. 

Warm  with  fweet  blufties  bright  GALANTHA  glows, 
And  prints  with  frolic  ftep  the  melting  mows  : 
O'er  filent  floods,  white  hills,  and  glittering  meads, 
Six  rival  fwains  the  playful  beauty  leads,  140 

Chides  with  her  dulcet  voice  the  tardy  Spring, 
Bids  flumbering  Zephyr  ftretch  his  folded  wing, 
Wakes  the  hoarfe  Cuckoo  in  his  gloomy  cave, 
And  calls  the  wondering  Dormoufe  from  his  grave, 
Bids  the  mute  Redbreaft  cheer  the  budding  grove,  145 

And  plaintive  Ringdove  tune  her  notes  to  love. 

Spring  !  with  thy  own  fweet  fmile  and  tuneful  tongue, 
Delighted  BELL  is  calls  her  infant  throng. 


Galanthus.  1.  137.  Nivalis.  Snow-drop.  Six  males,  one  female.  The 
firft  flower  that  appears  after  the  winter  folftice.  See  Stillingfleet's  Calen- 
der of  Flora. 

Some  fnow-drop-roots,  taken  up  in  winter,  and  hoiled,  had  the  infipid 
mucilaginous  tafte  of  the  Orchis,  and,  if  cured  in  the  fame  manner,  would 
probably  make  as  good  falep.  The  roots  of  the  Hyacinth,  1  am  informed, 
are  equally  infipid,  and  might  be  ufed  as  an  article  of  food.  Gmelin,  in 
his  Hiftory  of  Siberia,  fays  the  Martigon  Lily  makes  a  part  of  the  food 
of  that  country,  which  is  of  the  fame  natural  order  as  the  fnow-drop. 
Some  roots  of  Crocus,  which  I  boiled,  had  a  difagreeable  flavour. 

The  difficulty  of  raifing  the  Orchis  from  feed  has,  perhaps,  been  a  prin- 
cipal reafon  of  its  not  being  cultivated  in  this  country  as  an  article  of  food. 
It  is  affirmed,  by  one  of  the  Linnasan  School,  in  the  Amoenit.  Academ. 
that  the  feeds  of  Orchis  will  ripen,  if  you  deftroy  the  new  bulb;  and  that 
Lily  of  the  Valley,  Cpnvallaria,  will  produce  many  more  feeds,  and  ripen 
them,  if  the  roots  be  crowded  in  a  garden-pot,  fo  as  to  prevent  them  from 
producing  many  bulbs,  vol.  vi.  p.  120.  It  is  probable  either  of  thefe  me- 
thods may  fucceed  with  thefe  and  other  bulbous-rooted  plants,  as  fnow- 
drops,  and  might  render  their  cultivation  profitable  in  this  climate.  The 
root  of  the  afphodelus  ramofus,  branchy  afphodel,  is  ufed  to  feed  fwine  in 
France;  the  ftarch  is  obtained  from  the  alftromeria  H6ta.  Memoires  d'Agri- 
culture. 

Belli*  prolifera.  1.  148.  Hen  and  chicken  Daify.  In  this  beautiful  mon- 
fter  not  only  the  impletion,  or  doubling  of  the  petals,  takes  place,  as  defcribed 
in  the  note  on  Alcea,  but  a  numerous  circlet  of  lefs  flowers  on  peduncles, 
or  foot-ftalks,  rife  from  the  fides  of  the  calyx,  and  furround  the  proliferous 
parent.  The  fame  occurs  in  Calendula,  marigold;  in  Herucium,  hawk- 
weed;  and  in  Scabiofa,  fcabious.  Phil.  Bot.  p.  82. 


io$  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II, 

Each  on  his  reed  aflride,  the  Cherub-train 

Watch  her  kind  looks,  and  circle  o'er  the  plain;  150 

Now  with  young  wonder  touch  the  Hiding  fnail, 

Admire  his  eye-tipp'd  horns,  and  painted  mail ; 

Chafe  with  quick  flep,  and  eager  arms  outfpread, 

The  paufing  Butterfly  from  mead  to  mead ; 

Or  twine  green  oziers  with  the  fragrant  Gale,,  155 

The  azure  harebel,  and  the  primrofe  pale, 

Join  hand  in  hand,  and  in  proceflion  gay 

Adorn  with  votive  wreaths  the  fhrine  of  May. 

— So  moves  the  Goddefs  to  the  Idalian  groves, 

And  leads  her  gold-hair'd  family  of  Loves.  160 

Thefe,  from  the  flaming  furnace,  ftrong  an4  bold, 

Pour  the  red  fleel  in  many  a  fandy  mould; 

On  tinkling  anvils  (with  Vulcanian  art) 

Turn  with  hot  tongs,  and  forge  the  dreadful  dart  j 

The  barbed  head  on  whirling  jafpers  grind,  l6jj 

And  dip  the  point  in  poifon  for  the  mind ; 

Each  polifh'd  {haft  with  fnow-white  plumage  wing, 

Or  flrain  the  bow  relu&ant  to  its  firing. 

Thofe  on  light  pinion  twine  with  bufy  hands, 

Or  flretch  from  bough  to  bough  the  flowery  bands;          170 

Scare  the  dark  beetle*  as  he  wheels  on  high, 

Or  catch  in  filken  nets  the  gilded  fly ; 

Call  the  young  Zephyrs  to  their  fragrant  bowers, 

And  flay  with  kiffes  fweet  the  Vernal  Hours. 

Where,  as  proud  MafTon  rifes  rude  and  bleak,  175 

And  with  miihapen  turrets  crefls  the  Peak,. 


Tie  fragrant  Gait.  1. 155.  The  buds  of  the  Myrlca  Gale  poflefs  an  agree- 
able aromatic  fragrance,  and  might  be  worth  attending  to  as  an  article  of 
the  Materia  Medica.  Mr.  Sparman  fufpe&s,  that  the  green  wax-like  Tub* 
ftance,  with  which,  at  certain  times  of  the  year,  the  berries  of  the  Myri- 
ca  cerifera,  or  candle-berry  Myrtle,  are  covered,  are  depofited  there  by  in- 
fevfts.  It.  is  ufed  by  the  inhabitants  for  making  candles,  which,  he  fays,  burn 
rather  better  than  thofe  made  of  tallow.  Voyage  to  the  Cape,  vol.  i.  p. 
345.  Du  Halde  gives  an  account  of  a  white  wax,  made  by  fmall  infe&a, 
round  the  branches  of  a  tree  in  China,  in  great  quantity,  which  is  there 
coHec-ted  for  medical  and  economical  purpofes.  The  tree  is  called  Tong-tfin. 
Defcrip.  of  China,  vol.  i.  p.  230. 


CANTO  IV.         LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  109 

Old  Matlock  gapes  with  marble  jaws,  beneath, 

And  o'er  fcar'd  Derwent  bends  his  flinty  teeth; 

Deep  in  wide  caves  below  the  dangerous  foil 

Blue  fulphurs  flame,  imprifon'd  waters  boil,  1 80 

Impetuous  fteams  in  fpiral  columns  rife 

Through  rifted  rocks,  impatient  for  the  fkies  j 

Or  o'er  bright  feas  of  bubbling  lavas  blow, 

As  heave  and  tofs  the  billowy  fires  below ; 

Condenfed  on  high,  in  wandering  rills  they  glide  185 

From  Maffon's  dome,  and  burft  his  fparry  fide ; 

Round  his  grey  towers,  and  down  his  fringed  walls, 

From  clifF  to  cliff,  the  liquid  treafure  falls ; 

In  beds  of  ftala&ite,  bright  ores  among, 

O'er  corals,  fhells,  and  cryftals,  winds  along;  190 

Crufts  the  green  moffes,  and  the  tangled  wood, 

And  fparkling  plunges  to  its  parent  flood. 

— O'er  the  warm  wave  a  fmiling  youth  prefides, 

Attunes  its  murmurs,  its  meanders  guides, 


Deep  in  wide  caves.  1.  1^9.  The  arguments  which  tend  to  {hew  that  the 
warm  fprings  of  this  country  are  produced  from  fteam  raifed  by  deep  fub- 
terraneous  fires,  and  afterwards  condenfed  between  the  ftrata  of  the  moun-j 
tains,  appear  to  me  much  more  conclufive  than  the  idea  of  their  being 
•warmed  by  chemical  combinations  near  the  furface  of  the  earth  ;  for,  firft, 
their  heat  has  kept  accurately  the  fame,  perhaps,  for  many  centuries,  cer- 
tainly as  long  as  we  have  been  poflefled  of  good  thermometer*;  which  can- 
not be  well  explained,  without  fuppofing  that  they  are  firft  in  a  boiling  ftate. 
For,  as  the  heat  of  boiling  water  is  31  a,  and  that  of  the  internal  parts  of 
the  earth  48,  it  is  eafy  to  underftand,  that  the  fteam  raifed  from  boiling  wa- 
ter, after  being  condenfed  in  fome  mountain,  and  pafllng  from  thence  through 
a  certain  fpace  of  the  cold  earth,  muft  be  cooled  always  to  a  given  degree } 
and,  it  is  probable,  the  diftance  from  the  exit  of  the  fpring  to  the  place 
where  the  fteam  is  condenfed,  might  be  guefled  by  the  degree  of  its  warmth. 

a.  In  the  dry  fummer  of  1780,  when  all  other  fprings  were  either  dry  or 
much  diminiftied,  thofe  of  Buxton  and  Matlock  (as  I  was  well  informed 
on  the  fpot)  had  fuffered  no  diminution;  which  proves  that  the  fources  of 
thefe  warm  fprings  are  at  great  depths  below  the  furface  of  the  earth. 

3.  There  are  numerous  perpendicular  fiffures  in  the  rocks  of  Derbyfhire, 
in  which  the  ores  of  lead  and  copper  are  found,  and  which  pafs  to  unknown 
depths,  and  might  thence  afford  a  paflage  to  fteam  from  great  fubterraneous 
fires. 

4.  If  thefe  waters  were  heated  by  the  decompofition  of  pyrites,  there 
•would  be  fome  chalybeate  tafte  or  fulphureous  fmell  in  them.     See  note  in 
part  I.  on  the  exiftence  of  central  fires. 


iifr  BOTANIC  GARDEN  PART  II. 

(The  blooming  Fucus)  in  her  fparry  coves  195 

To  amorous  Echo  fings  hisfecret  loves, 

Bathes  his  fair  forehead  in  the  mifty  ftream, 

And  with  fweet  breath  perfumes  the  rifing  fleam. 

• — So,  erft,  an  Angel  o'er  Bethefda's  fprings, 

Each  morn  defcending,  fliook  his  dewy  wings ;  2OO 

And  as  his  bright  tranflucent  form  He  laves 

Salubrious  powers  enrich  the  troubled  waves. 

Amphibious  Nymph,  from  Nile's  prolific  bed 
Emerging  TRAP  A  lifts  her  pearly  head; 


Fueus.  I.  195.  Clandefline  marriage.  A  fpecies  of  Fucus,  or  of  Conferva, 
foon  appears  in  all  bafons  which  contain  water.  Dr.  Prieftley  found,  that 
great  quantities  of  pure  dephlogi (Heated  air  were  given  up  in  water  at  the 
points  of  this  vegetable,  particularly  in  the  funfhine,  and  that  hence  it  con- 
tributed to  preferve  the  water  in  refervoirs  from  becoming  putrid.  The 
minute  divifions  of  the  leaves  of  fubaquatic  plants,  as  mentioned  in  the  note 
ion  Trapa,  and  of  the  gills  of  fifh,  feem  to  ferve  another  purpole  befides 
that  of  increafing  their  furface,  which  has  not,  I  believe,  been  attended  to, 
and  that  is,  to  facilitate  the  reparation  of  the  air,  which  is  mechanically 
mixed,  or  chemically  diffolved  in  water,  by  their  points  or  edges :  this  ap- 
pears on  immerfing  a  dry  hairy  leaf  in  water  frefh  from  a  pump ;  innumera- 
ble globules,  like  quick-filver,  appear  on  almoft  every  point;  for  the  extre- 
mities of  thefe  points  attract  the  particles  of  water  lels  forcibly  than  thofe 
particles  attract  each  other ;  hence  the  contained  air,  whofe  elafticity  was 
but  juft  balanced  by  the  attractive  power  of  the  furrounding  particles  of 
water  to  each  other,  finds,  at  the  point  of  each  fibre,  a  place  where  the 
refiftance  to  its  expanfion  is  lefs;  and,  in  confequence,  it  there  expands, 
and  becomes  a  bubble  of  air.  It  is  eafy  to  forefee  that  the  rays  of  the  fun- 
fhine, by  being  refracted,  and,  in  part,  refle6ted  by  the  two  furfaces  of  thefe 
minute  air-bubbles,  mufl  impart  to  them  much  more  heat  than  to  the  tranf- 
parent  water,  and  thus  facilitate  their  afcent  by  further  expanding  them : 
that  the  points  of  vegetables  attract  the  particles  of  water  lefs  than  they 
attract  each  other,  is  feen  by  the  fpherical  form  of  dew-drops  on  the  points 
of  grafs.  See  note  on  Vegetable  Refpiration,  in  part  I. 

Trapa.  1.  204.  Four  males,  one  female.  The  lower  leaves  of  this  plant 
grow  under  water,  and  are  divided  into  minute  capillary  ramifications;  while 
the  upper  leaves  are  broad  and  round,  and  have  air-bladders  in  their  foot- 
ftalks  to  fupport  them  above  the  furface  of  the  water.  As  the  aerial  leaves 
of  vegetables  do  the  office  of  lungs,  by  expofing  a  large  furface  of  veffels, 
with  their  contained  fluids,  to  the  influence  of  the  air ;  fo  thefe  aquatic  leaves 
anfwer  a  fimilar  purpofe,  like  the  gills  of  fifh ;  and  perhaps  gain  from  water, 
or  give  to  it,  a  fimilar  material.  As  the  material  thus  neceffary  to  life  feems 
to  abound  more  in  air  than  in  water,  the  fubaquatic  leaves  of  this  plant,  and 
of  fifymbrium,  osnanthe,  ranunculus  aquatilis,  water  crowfoot,  and  fome 
others,  are  cut  into  fine  divifions  to  increafe  the  furface;  whilft  thofe  above 
water  are  undivided.  So  the  plants  on  high  mountains  have  their  upper 
leaves  more  divided,  as  pimpinella,  petrofelinum,  and  others,  becaufe  here 


CANTO  IV.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  m 

Fair  glows  her  virgin  cheek  and  modeft  breaft,  305 

A  panoply  of  fcales  deforms  the  reft  ; 

Her  quivering  fins  and  panting  gills  fhe  hides, 

But  fpreads  her  lilver  arms  upon  the  tides ; 

Slow  as  (he  fails,  her  ivory  neck  {he  laves, 

And  {hakes  her  golden  trefles  o'er  the  waves.  210 

Charm'd  round  the  Nymph,  in  circling  gambols  glide 

Four  Nereid-forms,  or  {hoot  along  the  tide  j 

Now  all  as  one  they  rife  with  frolic  fpring, 

And  beat  the  wondering  air  on  humid  wing ; 

Now  all  defcending  plunge  beneath  the  main,  215 

And  lafti  the  foam  with  undulating  train ; 

Above,  below,  they  wheel,  retreat,  advance, 

In  air  and  ocean  weave  the  mazy  dance ; 

Bow  their  quick  heads,  and  point  their  diamond  eyes, 

And  twinkle  to  the  fun  with  ever-changing  dyes,  220 

Where  Andes,  crefle^  with  volcanic  beams, 
Sheds  a  long  line  of  light  on  Plata's  ftreams ; 
Opes  all  his  fprings,  unlocks  his  golden  caves, 
And  feeds  and  freights  the  immeafurable  waves ; 


the  air  is  thinner,  and  thence  a  larger  furface  of  contact  is  required.  The 
ftream  of  water  alfo  pafles  but  once  along  the  gills  of  fifh,  as  it  is  fooner  de- 
prived of  its  virtue;  whereas  the  air  is  both  received  and  ejected  by  the  ac- 
tion of  the  lungs  of  land-animals.  The  whale  feems  to  be  an  exception  to 
the  above,  as  he  receives  water  and  fpouts  it  out  again  from  an  organ,  which 
I  fuppofe  to  be  a  refpiratory  one.  As  fpring- water  is  nearly  of  the  fame 
degree  of  heat  in  all  climates,  the  aquatic  plants,  which  grow  in  rills  or 
fountains,  are  found  equally  in  the  torrid,  temperate,  and  frigid  zones,  as 
water-crefs,  water-parfnip,  ranunculus,  and  many  others. 

In  warmer  climates  the  watery  grounds  are  ufually  cultivated,  as  with  rice; 
and  the  roots  of  fome  aquatic  plants  are  faid  to  have  fupplied  food,  as  the 

ancient  Lotus  in  Egypt,  which  fome  have  fuppofed  to  be  the  Nymphxa 

In  Siberia  the  roots  of  the  Butomus,  or  flowering  rufti,  are  eaten,  which  is 
well  worth  further  inquiry,  as  they  grow  fpontaneoufly  in  bur  ditches  and 
rivers,  which  at  prefent  produce  no  efculent  vegetables;  and  might  thence 
become  an  article  of  ufeful  cultivation.  Herodotus  affirms,  that  the  Egyp- 
tian Lotus  grows  in  the  Nile,  and  *efembles  a  Lily.  That  the  natives  dry- 
it  in  the  fun,  and  take  the  pulp  out  of  it,  which  grows  like  the  head  of  a 
poppy,  and  bake  it  for  bread.  Euterpe.  Many  grit-ftones  and  coals,  which 
I  have  feen,  feem  to  bear  an  impreflion  of  the  roots  of  the  Nymphsea,  which 
arc  often  three  or  four  inches  thick,  efpecially  the  white-flowered  one. 


Hi  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

Delighted  OCYMA  at  twilight  hours  225 

Calls  her  light  car,  and  leaves  the  fultry  bowers ; 

Love's  rifing  ray,  and  Youth's  fedu&ive  dye, 

Bloom'd  on  her  cheek,  and  brighten'd  in  her  eye; 

Chafte,  pure,  and  white,  a  zone  of  fllver  graced 

Her  tender  breaft,  as  white,  as  pure,  as  chafte; —  230 

By  four  fond  fwains  in  playful  circles  drawn, 

On  glowing  wheels  {he  tracks  the  moon-bright  lawn, 

Mounts  the  rude  cliff,  unveils  her  blufhing  charms, 

And  calls  the  panting  zephyrs  to  her  arms. 

Emerged  from  ocean  fprings  the  vaporous  air,  235 

Bathes  her  light  limbs,  uncurls  her  amber  hair, 

Incrufls  her  beamy  form  with  films  faline, 

And  Beauty  blazes  through  the  cryftal  (hrine. — 

So  with  pellucid  ftuds  the  ice-flower  gems 

Her  rimy  foliage,  and  her  candied  ftems.  240 


Oeymum  falitnim.  1.  325.  Saline  Bafil.  Clafs  Two  Powers.  The  Abbe 
Molina,  in  his  Hiftory  of  Chili,  tranflated  from  the  Italian  by  the  Abbe 
Grewvel,  mentions  a  fpecies  of  Bafil,  which  he  calls  Oeymum  falinum :  he 
fays  it  refemblesthe  common  bafil,  except  that  the  ftalk  is  round  and  jointed; 
and  that  though  it  grows  fixty  miles  from  the  fea,  yet  every  morning  it  is 
covered  with  faline  globules,  which  are  hard  and  fplendid,  appearing  at  a 
diftance  like  dew;  and  that  each  plant  furnifhes  about  half  an  ounce  of  fine 
fait  every  day,  which  the  peafants  colled:,  and  ufe  as  common  fait,  but 
efteem  it  fuperior  in  flavour. 

As  an  article  of  diet,  fait  feems  to  a6t  limply  as  a  ftimulus,  not  contain- 
ing any  nourifhment,  and  is  the  only  foffil  fubftance  which  the  caprice  of 
mankind  has  yet  taken  into  their  ftomachs  along  with  their  food;  and,  like 
all  other  unnatural  ftimuli,  is  not  neceffary  to  people  in  health,  and  contri- 
butes to  weaken  our  fyftem,  though  it  may  be  ufeful  as  a  medicine.  It  feems 
to  be  the  immediate  caufe  of  the  fea-fcurvy,  as  thofe  patients  quickly  reco- 
ver by  the  ufe  of  frefh  provifions ;  and  is,  probably,  a  remote  caufe  of  fcro- 
phula,  (which  confifts  in  the  want  of  irritability  in  the  abforbent  vefiels,) 
and  is,  therefore,  ferviceable  to  thefe  patients,  as  wine  is  neceflary  to  thofe 
Avhofe  ftomachs  have  been  weakened  by  its  ufe.  The  univerfality  of  the 
life  of  fait  with  our  food,  and  in  our  cookery,  has  rendered  it  difficult  to 
prove  the  truth  of  thefe  obfervations.  I  fufpedl  that  flefti-meat,  cut  into 
thin  flices,  either  raw  or  boiled,  might  be  preserved  in  coarfe  fugar  or  trea- 
cle; and  thus  a  very  nourifhing  and  falutary  diet  might  be  prefented  to  qur 
feamen.  See  note  on  Salt-rocks,  in  part  i.  Canto  II.  If  a  perfon,  unac- 
cuftomed  to  much  fait,  (hould  eat  a  couple  of  red  herrings,  his  infenfible 
perforation  will  be  fo  much  increafed  by  the  ftimulus  of  the  fait,  that  he 
will  find  it  neceflary,  in  about  two  hours,  to  drink  a  quart  of  water:  the 
effects  of  a  continued  ufe  of  fait  in  weakening  the  a&ion  of  the  lymphatic, 
fyftem,  may  hence  be  deduced. 


CANTO  IV.  LOVES  QF  THE  PLANTS,  113 

So  from  his  glafly  horns,  and  pearly  eyes, 
The  diamond-beetle  darts  a  thoufand  dyes ; 
Mounts  with  enamel 'd  wings  the  vefper  gale, 
And  wheeling  (nines  in  adamantine  mail. 

Thus  when  loud  thunders  o'er  Gomorrah  burft,  243 

And  heaving  earthquakes  fhaok  his  realms  accurft, 
An  Angel-gueft  led  forth  the  trembling  Fair 
With  fhadowy  hand,  and  warn'd  the  guiltlefs  pair ; 
"  Hafte  from  thefe  lands  of  fin,  ye  Righteous !  fly, 
"  Speed  the  quick  ftep,  nor  turn  the  lingering  eye!" —     250 
— Such  the  command,  as  fabling  Bards  recite, 
When  Orpheus  charm'd  the  grifly  King  of  Night; 
Sooth'd  the  pale  phantoms  with  his  plaintive  lay, 
And  led  the  fair  Aflurgent  into  day. — 

Wide  yawn'4  the  earth,  the  fiery  tempeft  flafli'd,  255 

And  towns  and  towers  in  one  vaft  ruin  crafh'd ; — 
Onward  they  move, — loud  horror  roars  behind, 
And  fhrieks  of  Anguifh  bellow  in  the  wind. 
With  many  a  fob,  amid  a  thoufand  fears, 
The  beauteous  wanderer  pours  her  gufhing  tears;  260 

Each  foft  connection  rends  her  troubled  breaft, 
— She  turns,  unconfcious  of  the  ftern  beheft ! — 
"  I  faint ! — I  fall ! — ah,  me ! — fenfations  chill 
"  Shoot  through  my  bones,  my  fhuddering  bofom  thrill ! 
"  I  freeze!  I  freeze!  juft  Heaven  regards  my  fault,  265 

"  Numbs  my  cold  limbs,  and  hardens  into  fait ! — 
"  Not  yet,  not  yet,  your  dying  love  refign  ! — 
"  This  laft,  laft  kifs  receive! — no  longer  thine!" — 
She  faid,  and  ceafed, — her  ftiffen'd  form  He  pre/s'd, 
And  ftrain'd  the  briny  column  to  his  breaft;  270 

Printed  with  quivering  lips  the  lifelefs  fnow, 
And  wept;  and  gazed  the  monument  of  woe. 
So  when  ^Eneas  through  the  flames  of  Troy- 
Bore  his  pale  fire,  and  led  his  lovely  boy, 
With  loitering  ftep  the  fair  Creufa  ftay'd,  275 

And  Death  involved  her  in  eternal  fhade.-^- 
— Oft  the  lone  Pilgrim,  that  his  road  forfakes, 
Marks  the  wide  ruins,  and  the  fulphur'd  lakes ; 
PART  II.  P 


ii4  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

On  mouldering  piles  amid  afphaltic  mud 

Hears  the  hoarfe  bittern,  where  Gomorrah  flood;  280 

Recals  the  unhappy  Pair  with  lifted  eye, 

Leans  on  the  cryftal  tomb,  and  breathes  the  filent  fighi 

With  net- wove  fafh  and  glittering  gorget  drefs'd, 
And  fcarlet  robe  lapell'd  upon  her  bread, 
Stern  ARA  frowns,  the  meafured  march  affumes,  285 

Trails  her  long  lance,  and  nods  her  fhadowy  plumes ; 
While  Love's  foft  beams  illume  her  treacherous  eyes, 
And  Beauty  lightens  through  the  thin  difguife. 
So  erft,  when  HERCULES,  untamed  by  toil, 
Own'd  the  foft  power  of  DEJANIRA'S  fmile;^-  290 

His  lion-fpoils  the  laughing  Fair  demands^ 
And  gives  the  diftaff  to  his  awkward,  hands ; 
O'er  her  white  neck  the  briftly  mane  fhe  throws, 
And  binds  the  gaping  whifkers  on  her  brows ; 
Plaits  round  her  flender  waift  the  Shaggy  veft,  295 

And  clafps  the  velvet  paws  acrofs  her  breafl. 


Arum.  1.  285.  Cuckow-pint,  of  the  clafs  Gynandria,  or  mafculine  ladies, 
The  piftil,  or  female  part  of  the  flower,  rifes  like  a  club,  is  covered  above, 
or  clothed,  as  it  were,  by  the  anthers  or  males ;  and  forrie  of  the  fpecies  have 
a  large  fcarlet  blotch  in  the  middle  of  every  leaf.  • 

The  iingular  and  wonderful  ftru&ure  of  this  flower  has  occafioned  many 
difputes  amongft  botanifts.  See  Tourniff.  Malpig.  Dillen.  Riven.  &c.  The 
receptacle  is  enlarged  into  a  naked  club,  with  the  germs  at  itsbafe;  the  fta- 
mens  are  affixed  to  the  receptacle  amidft  the  germs  (a  natural  prodigy),  and 
thus  do  not  need  the  afiiftancc  of  elevating  filaments:  hence  the  flower  may 
be  faid  to  be  inverted.  Families  of  Plants,  tranflated  from  Linnaeus,  p.  618. 

The  fpadix  of  this  plant  is  frequently  quite  white,  or  coloured,  and  the 
leaves  liable  to  be  ftreaked  with  white,  and  to  have  black  or  fcarlet  blotches 
on  them.  As  the  plant  has  no  corol  or  bloffom,  it  is  probable  the  coloured 
juices  in  thcfe  parts  of  the  fiieath  or  leaves  may  ferve  the  fame  purpo-fe  as 
the  coloured  juices  in  the  petals  of  other  flowers;  from  which  I  fuppofe  the 
honey  to  be  prepared.  See  note  on  Hellebofus.  I  am  informed  that  thofe 
tulip-roots  which  have  a  red  cuticle  produce  red  flowers.  See  Rubia. 

When  the  petals  of  the  tulip  become  flripcd  with  many  colours,  the  plant 
lofes  almoft  half  of  its  height;  and  the  method  of  making  them  thus  break 
into  colours,  is  by  tranfplanting  them  into  a  meagre  or  fandy  foil,  after  they 
have  prcvioujly  enjoyed  a  richer  foil:  hence  it  appears,  that  the  plant  is  weak- 
ened when  the  flower  becomes  variegated.  See  note  on  Anemone.  For  the 
acquired  habits  of  vegetables,  fee  Tulipa,  Orchis. 

The  roots  of  the  Arum  are  fcratched  up,  and  eaten  by  thruihes  in  fevers 
fnowy  fealbns.  "White's  Hill,  of  Selbourn,  p.  43- 


CANTO  IV.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  115 

Next  with  foft  hands  the  knotted  club  (lie  rears, 

Heaves  up  from  earth,  and  on  her  (houlder  bears* 

Onward  with  loftier  ftep  the  Beauty-  treads, 

And  trails  the  brinded  ermine  o'er  the  meads;  300 

Wolves,  bears,  and  pards,  forfake  the  affrighted  groves, 

And  grinning  Satyrs  tremble,  as  (he  moves. 

CARYO'S  fweet  (mile  DIANTHUS  proud  admires, 
And  gazing  burns  with  unallow'd  defjres ; 
With  fighs  and  forrows  her  compaflion  moves,  305 

And  wins  the  damfel  to  illicit  loves. 
The  Monfter- offspring  heirs  the  father's  pride, 
Mafk'd  in  the  damafk  beauties  of  the  bride. 
So,  when  the  Nightingale  in  eaftern  bowers 
On  quivering  pinion  woos  the  Queen  of  Flowers;  •          310 

Dianthus.  1.  303.  Superbus.  Pro'ud  Pink.  There  is  a  kind  of  pink, 
called  Fairchild's  mule,  which  is  here  fuppofed  to  be  produced  between  a 
Dianthus  fuperbus,  and  the  'Caryophyllus,  Clove.  The  Dianthus  fuperbus 
emits  a  moft  fragrant  odour,  particularly  at  night.  Vegetable  mules  fupply 
an  irrefragable  argument  in  favour  of  the  fexual  fyftem  of  botany.  They 
are  faid  to  be  numerous;  and,  like  the  mules  of  the  animal  kingdom,  not 
always  to  continue  their  fpecies  by  feed.  There  is  an  account  of  a  curious 
mule  from  the  Antirrhinum  linaria,  Toad-flax,  in  the  Amoenit.  Academ. 
vol.  i.  No.  3.  and  many  hybrid  plants  defcribed  in  No.  32.  The  Urtica 
alienata  is  an  evergreen  plant,  which  appears  to  be  a  nettle  from  the  male 
flowers,  and  a  Pellitory  (Parietaria)  from  the  female  ones  and  the  fruit; 
and  is  hence  between  both.  Murray,  Syft.  Veg.  Amongft  the  Engliih  in- 
digenous plants,  the  veronica  hybrida  mule  Speedwel  is  fuppofed  to  have 
originated  from  the  officinal  one,  and  the  fpiked  one.  And  the  Sibthorpia 
Europxa  to  have  for  its  parents  the  golden  faxifrage  and  marfti  pennywort. 
Pulteney's  View  of  Linnaeus,  p.  253.  Mr.  Graberg,  Mr.  Schreber,  and 
Mr>  Ramftrom,  feem  of  opinion,  that  the  internal  ftrutSluve,  or  parts  of 
fructification  in  mule-plants,  refemble  the  female  parent ;  but  that  the  habit, 
or  external  ftrudhire,  referable*  the  male  parent.  See  treatifes  under  the 
above  names,  in  vol.  vi.  Amoenit.  Academic.  The  mule  produced  from 
a  horfe  and  the  afs,  refembles  the  horfe  externally  with  his  ears,  mane,  and 
tail;  but  with  the  nature  or  manners  of  an  afs:  but  the  Hinnus,  or  creature 
produced  from  a  male  afs  and  a  mare,  refembles  the  father  externally  in  fla- 
ture,  afh-colour,  and  the  black  crofs,  but  with  the  nature  or  manners  of  a 
horfe.  The  breed  from  Spanish  rams  and  'Swedifh  ewes  refembled  the 
Spanilh  fheep  in  wool,  ftature,  and  external  form ;  but  was  as  hardy  as  the 
Swedifh  fheep;  and  the  contrary  of  thofe  which  were  produced  from 
Swedifh  rams  and  Spanifh  ewes.  The  offspring  from  the  male  goat  of  An- 
gora, and  the  Swedifh  female  goat,  had  long  foft  camel's  hair;  but  that 
from  the  male  Swedifh  goat,  and  the  female  one  of  Angora,  had  no  im- 
provement of  their  wool.  An  Englifh  ram  without  horns,  and  a  Swedifh 
horned  ewe,  produced  fheep  without  horns.  Amcen.  Acad.  vol.  vi.  p.  13. 


li*  .  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

tnhsues  her  fragrance,  as  he  hangs  in  air, 

And  melts  with  melody  the  blufhing  fair; 

Half-rofe,  half-hird,  a  beauteous  Monfter  fprings^ 

Waves  his  thin  leaves,  and  claps  his  glofTy  wings ; 

Long  horrent  thorns  his  moffy  legs  furround,  315 

And  tendril-talons  root  him  to  the  ground ; 

Green  films  of  rind  his  wrinkled  neck  o'erfpread, 

And  crimfon  petals  creft  his  curled  head ; 

Soft- warbling  beaks  in  each  bright  blofTom  move, 

And  vocal  Rofebuds  thrill  the  enchanted  grove! —  320 

Admiring  Evening  flays  her  beamy  ftar, 

And  ftill  Night  liftens  from  his  ebon  car ; 

While  on  white  wings  defcending  Houries  throng, 

And  drink  the  floods  of  odour  and  of  fong. 

When  from  his  golden  urn  the  Solftice  pours  325 

O'er  Afric's  fable  fons  the  fultry  hours ; 
When  not  a  gale  flits  o'er  her  tawny  hills, 
Save  where  the  dry  Harmattan  breathes  and  kills ; 


The  dry  Harmattan.  \.  328.  The  Harmattan  is  a  fingular  wind,  blowing 
from  the  interior  parts  of  Africa  to  the  Atlantic  ocean,  fometimes  for  a 
few  hours,  fometimes  for  feveral  days,  without  regular  periods.  It  is  al- 
ways attended  with  a  fog  or  haze,  fo  denfe  as  to  render  thofe  obje&s  invi- 
fible  which  are  at  the  diftance  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile :  the  fun  appears  through 
it  only  about  noon,  and  then  of  a  dilute  red,  and  very  minute  particles 
fubfide  from  the  mifty  air,  fo  as  to  make  the  grafs,  and  the  fkins  of  negroes, 
appear  whitifh.  The  extreme  drynefs  which  attends  this  wind  or  fog, 
without  dews,  withers,  arM  quite  dricsj  the  leaves  of  vegetables;  and  is 
faid,  by  Dr.  Lind,  at  fome  feafohs,  to  be  fatal  and  malignant  to  mankind; 
probably  after  much  preceding  wet,  when  it  may  become  loaded  with  the 
exhalations  from  putrid  marines:  at  other  feafons  it  is  faid  to  check  epi- 
demic difeafes, .  to  cure  fluxes,  and  to  heal  ulcers  and  cutaneous  eruptions ; 
which  is,  probably,  effected  by  its  yielding  no  moiflure  to  the  mouths  of  the 
External  abforbent  veffels,  by  which  the  aclJon  of  the  Other  branches  of  the 
abforbent  fyilem  is  increafed  to  fupply  the  deficiency.  Account  of  the  Har- 
m  ait  an,  Phil.  Tranf.  vol,  Ixxi. 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Sterling  gives  an  account  of  a  darknefs  for  fix  or 
eight  hours  at  Detroit,  in  America,  on  the  lythof  October,  1762,  in  which 
the  fun  appeared  as  red  as  blood,  and  thrice  its  ufual  fize:  fome  rain  fall- 
ing, covered  white  paper  with  dark  drops,  like  fulphur  or  dirt,  which  burnt 
like  wet  gun-powder,  and  the  air  had  a  very  fulphureo'us  fmell.  He  fup- 
pofes  this  to  have  been  emitted  from  fomfe  diftant  earthquake  or  volcano. 
Phil.  Tranf.  .vol.  liii.  p.  63. 

In,  many  circumftances  this  wind  feem's  nfuch  to  refemble  the  dry  fog 
which  covered  mofl  parts  of  Europe,  for  many  weeks,  in  the  fummer  of 


I 

*« 


CANTO  IV.       LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.          '*      n# 

When  ftretch'd  in  duft  her  gafping  panthers  lie, 

And  writh'd  in  foamy  folds  her  ferpenrs  die  ;  330 

Indignant  Atlas  mourns  his  leaflefs  woods, 

And  Gambia  trembles  for  his  finking  floods; 

Contagion  ftalks  along  the  briny  fand, 

And  Ocean  rolls  his  fickening  fhoals  to  land, 

—  Fair  CHUNDA  fmiles  amid  the  burning  wafte,  335 

Her  brow  unturban'd,  and  her  zone  unbraced  ; 

Ten  brother-youths  with  light  umbrella's  fhade, 

Or  fan  with  bufy  hands  the  panting  maid; 


1780,  which  has  been  fuppofed  to  have  had  a  volcanic  origin,  as  it  fucceeded 
the  violent  eruption  of  Mount  Hecla,  and  its  neighbourhood.  From  the. 
fubfidence  of  a  white  powder,  it  feems  probable  that  the  Harmattan  has  a 
fimilar  origin,  from  the  unexplored  mountains  of  Africa.  Nor  is  it  impro- 
bable, that  the  epidemic  coughs,  which  occafionally  traverfe  immenfe  tracls 
of  country,  may  be  the  produces  of  volcanic  eruptions  ;  nor  impoflible,  that 
at  fome  future  time,  contagious  miafmata  may  be  thus  emitted  from  fub- 
tcrraneous  furnaces,  in  fuch  abundance  as  to  contaminate  the  whole  atmof- 
phere,  and  depopulate  the  earth  ! 

His  fattening  Jkoah.  1.  334.  Mr.  Marfden  relates,  that  in  the  ifland  of 
Sumatra,  during  the  November  of  1775,  the  dry  monfoons,  or  S.  E.  winds, 
continued  fo  much  longer  than  ufual,  that  the  large  rivers  became  dry;  and 
prodigious  quantities  of  fea-fifh,  dead  and  dying,  were  feen  floating  for 
leagues  on  the  fea,  and  driven  on  the  beach  by  the  tides.  This  was  fup- 
pofed to  have  been  caufed  by  the  great  evaporation,  and  the  deficiency  of 
freih-water  rivers  having  rendered  the  fea  too  fait  for  its  inhabitants.  The 
feafon  then  became  fo  fickly  as  to  deftroy  great  numbers  of  people,  both 
foreigners  and  natives.  Fhil.  Tranf.  vol.  Ixxi.  p.  384. 

Chunda.  1.  335,  Chundali  Borrum  is  the  name  which  the  natives  give 
to  this  plant:  it  is  the  Hedyfarum  gyrans,  or  moving  plant:  its  clafs  is 
two  brotherhoods,  ten  males.  Its  leaves  are  continually  in  fpontane- 
ous  motion;  fome  rifing  and  others  falling;  and  others  whirling  circularly 
by  twifting  their  ftems.  This  fpontaneous  movement  of  the  leaves,  when 
the  air  is  quite  ftill  and  very  warm,  feems  to  be  neceflary  to  the  plant,  as 
perpetual  refpiration  is  to  animal  life.  A  more  particular  account,  with  a. 
good  print  of  the  Hedyfarum  gyrans,  is  given  by  M.  Brouffonet,  in  a  pa- 
per on  vegetable  motions,  in  the  Hiftoire  de  1'Academie  des  Sciences.  Ann. 
1784.  p.  609. 

There  are  many  other  inftances  of  fpontaneous  movements  of  the 
parts  of  vegetables.  In  the  Marchantia  polymorpha,  fome  yellow  wool 
proceeds  from  the  flower-bearing  anrhers,  which  moves  fpontaneoufly  in 
the  anther,  while  it  drops  its  duft  Rke  atoms.  Murray,  Syft.  Ve'g.  See 
note  on  Collinfonia,  for  other  inftances  of  vegetable  fpontaneity.  Add  to 
this,  that  as  the  fleep  of  animals  confifts  in  a  fufpenfion  of  voluntary  motion, 
and  as  vegetables  are  likewife  fubjedl  to  fleep,  therq  is  reafon  to  conclude, 
that  the  various  actions  of  opening  and  clofing  their  petals  and  foliage  may 
be  juftly  afcribed  to  a  voluntary  power:  for  without  the  faculty  of  volition, 
fleep  would  not  have  been  neceflary  to  them. 


ti8  BOTANIC  GARDE tf.  PART  It 

Loofe  wave  her  locks,  difclofing  as  they  breafc, 

The  rifing  bofom  and  averted  cheek ;  340 

ClafpM  round  her  ivory  neck  with  ftuds  of  gold 

Flows  her  thin  veft  in  many  a  gauzy  fold ; 

O'er  her  light  limbs  the  dim  tranfparence  plays, 

And  the  fair  form,  it  feems  to  hide,  betrays. 

Cold  from  a  thoufand  rocks,  where  Ganges  leads         345 
The  gufhrng  waters  to  his  fultry  meads ;' 
By  moon-crown'd  mofques  with,  gay  reflections  glides* 
And  vaft  pagodas  trembling  on  his  iides ; 
With  fweet  loquacity  NELUMBO  fails, 

Shouts  to  his  {hores,  and  parleys  with  his  gales ;  350 

Invokes  his  echoes,  as  {he  moves  along, 
And  thrills  his  ripling  furges  with  her  fong. 
•—As  round  the  Nymph  her  liftening  lovers  play, 
And  guard  the  Beauty  on  her  watery  way ; 
Charm'd  on  the  brink  relenting  tygers  gaze,  35$ 

And  paufing  buffaloes  forget  to  graze ; 
Admiring  elephants  forfake  their  woods, 
Stretch  their  wide  ears,  and  wade  into  the  floods ; 
In  filent  herds  the  wondering  fea-calves  lave, 
Or  nod  their  {limy  foreheads  o'er  the  wave ;  360 

Coifed  on  ftill  wing  attentive  vultures  fweep, 
And  winking  crocodiles  are  lull'd  to  fleep. 

Where  leads  the  northern  Star  his  lucid  train 
High  o'er  the  fnow-clad  earth,  and  icy  main, 
With  milky  light  the  white  horizon  ftreams,  365 

And  to  the  moon  each  fpaikling  mountain  gleams. — 


Nelunilo.  1.  349.  Nymph  sea  Nelumbo.  A  beautiful  rofe-red  flower  on 
"a  receptacle  as  large  as  an  artichoke.  The  capfule  is  perforated  with  holes 
at  the  top,  and  the  feeds  rattle  in  it.  Perfect  leaves  are  feen  in  the  feeds 
before  they  germinate.  Linnaeus,  who  has  enlifted  all  our  fenfes  into  the 
fervice  of  botany,  has  obferved  this  rattling  of  the  Nelumbo;  and  mentions 
what  he  calls  an  ele&ric  murmur,  like  diftant  thunder,  in  hop-yards,  when 
the  wind  blows,  and  afks  the  caufe  of  it.  We  have  one  kind  of  pedicula- 
ris  in  our  meadows,  which  has  obtained  the  name  of  rattle-grafs,  from  the 
rattling  of  its  dry  feed-veffels  under  our  feet. 


CANTO  IV.        LOVES  OF  TttE  PLANTf.  Ug 

Slow  o'er  the  printed  fnows  with  filent  walk 

Huge  ftiaggy  forms  acrofs  the  twilight  ftalk ; 

And  ever  and  anon  with  hideous  found 

Burft  the  thick  ribs  of  ice,  and  thunder  round. —  370 

There,  as  old  Winter  flaps  his  hoary  wing, 

And  lingering  leaves  his  empire  to  the  Spring, 

Pierced  with  quick  {hafts  of  filver-fhooting  light 

Fly  in  dark  troops  the  dazzled  imps  of  night. — 

"  Awake,  my  Love!"  enamoured  MUSCHUS  cries,        375 

"  Stretch  thy  fair  limbs,  refulgent  Maid!  arife; 

*'  Ope  thy  fweet  eye-lids  to  the  riling  ray, 

"  And  hail  with  ruby  lips  returning  day. 

"  Down  the  white  hills  diffolving  torrents  pour, 

"  Green  fprings  the  turf,  and  purple  blows  the  flower;     380 

"  His  torpid  wing  the  Rail  exulting  tries, 

"  Mounts  the  foft  gale,  and  wantons  in  the  ikies; 

"  Rife,  let  us  mark  how  bloom  the  awaken'd  groves, 

"  And  'mid  the  banks  of  rofes  hide  our  loves." 

Night's  tinfel  beams  on  fmooth  Lock-lomond  dance,  385 
Impatient  ^£GA  views  the  bright  expanfe; 

Bur/1  the  thick  ribs  of  ice.  1.  370.  The  violent  cracks  of  ice  heard  from 
the  Glaciers,  feem  to  be  caufed  by  fome  of  the  fnow  being  melted  in  the 
middle  of  the  day;  and  the  water  thus  produced  running  down  into  yal- 
lies  of  ice,  and,  congealing  again  in  a  few  hours,  forces  off,  by  its  expan- 
lion,  large  precipices  from  the  ice-mountains. 

Mufchus.  1.  375.  Corallinus,  or  lichen  rangiferinus.  Coral-mofs.  Clan- 
deftine  marriage.  This  mofs  vegetates  beneath  the  fnow,  where  the  degree 
of  heat  is  always  about  40 ;  that  is,  in  the  middle,  between  the  freezing 
point  and  the  common  heat  of  the  earth ;  and  is,  for  many  months  of  the 
winter,  the  fole  food  of  the  rein-deer,  who  digs  furrows  in  the  fnow  to 
find  it;  and  as  the  milk  and  flefh  of  this  animal  is  almoft  the  only  fuftenance 
which  can  be  procured  during  the  long  winters  of  the  higher  latitudes,  this 
mofs  may  be  faid  to  fupport  fome  millions  of  mankind. 

The  quick  vegelation  that  occurs  on  the  folution  of  the  fnows  in  high 
latitudes,  appears  very  aftonifhing:  it  feems  to  arife  from  two  caufes;  I. 
The  long  continuance  of  the  approaching  fun  above  the  horizon ;  a.  The 
Incrcafed  irritability  of  plants  which  have  been  long  cxpofed  to  the  cold.  See 
note  on  Anemone. 

All  the  water -fowl  on  the  lakes  of  Siberia  are  faid,  by  Profeffor  Gmelin, 
to  retreat  fouthwards  on  the  commencement  of  the  froft,  except  the  Rail, 
•which  fleeps  buried  in  the  fnow.  Account  of  Siberia. 

Mga.  1.  386.  Conferva  ajgagropila.  It  is  found  loofe  in  many  lakes,  in 
a  globular  form,  from  the  fize  of  a  walnut  to  thst  of  a  melon,  much  re- 


120  BOTANIC  GARDEN  PART  1L 

In  vain  her  eyes  the  pafling  floods  explore, 

Wave  after  wave  rolls  freightlefs  to  the  fhore. 

— Now  dim  amid  the  diftant  foam  ihe  fpies 

A  rifing  fpeck, — "  'tis  he  !  'tis  he !'  -  fhe  cries ;  390 

As  with  firm  arms  he  beats  the  ftreams  afide, 

And  cleaves  with  rifing  chefl  the  tofling  tide, 

With  bended  knee  {he  prints  the  humid  fands, 

Up-turns  her  gliftening  eyes,  and  fpreads  her  hands; 

— "  'Tis  he,  'tis  he !— My  Lord,  my  life,  my  love !  395 

"  Slumber,  ye  winds ;  ye  billows,  ceafe  to  move ! 

"  Beneath  his  arms  your  buoyant  plumage  fpread, 

"  Ye  Swans !  ye  Halcyons !  hover  round  his  head !"-— 

— With  eager  ftep  the  boiling  furf  flie  braves, 

And  meets  her  refluent  lover  in  the  waves ;  400 

Loofe  o'er  the  flood  her  azure  mantle  fwims, 

And  the  clear  ftream  betrays  her  fnowy  limbs. 

So  on  her  fea-girt  tower  fair  HERO  flood 
At  parting  day,  and  mark'd  the  dafhing  flood ; 
While  high  in  air,  the  glimmering  rocks  above,  405 

Shone  the  bright  lamp,  the  pilot-ftar  of  love. 
— With  robe  outfpread  the  wavering  flame  behind 
She  kneels,  and  guards  it  from  the  fhifting  wind ; 
Breathes  to  her  Goddefs  all  her  vows,  and  guides 
Her  bold  LEANDER  o'er  the  dufky  tides;  410 

Wrings  his  wet  hair,  his  briny  bofom  warms, 
And  clafps  her  panting  lover  in  her  arms. 

Deep,  in  wide  caverns  and  their  fhadowy  ailes. 
Daughter  of  Earth,  the  chafte  TRUFFELIA  fmiles; 


fembling  the  balls  of  hair  found  in  the  ftomachs  of  cows:  it  adheres  to 
nothing,  but  tolls  from  one  part  of  the  lake  to  another.  The  Conferva  va- 
gabunda  dwells  on  the  European  feas,  travelling  along  in  the  midft  of  the 
waves.  (Spec.  Plant.)  Thefe  may  not  improperly  be  called  itinerant  ve- 
getables. In  a  fimilar  manner  the  Fucus  natans  '(fwimming)  ftrikes  no 
roots  into  the  earth,  but  floats  on  the  fea  in  very  extenfive  maffes,  ind  may 
be  faid  to  be  a  plant  of  paflage,  as  it  is  wafted  by  the  winds  from  one  Ihore 
to  another. 

Tni/elia.  1.  414.     (Lycoperdon  Tuber)  Truffle.     Clandestine  marriage. 
This  fungus  never  appears  above  ground,  requiring  little  air,  and,  perhaps, 


CANTO  IV.  LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  121 

On  filvery  beds,  of  foft  afbeflus  wove,'  415 

Meets  her  Gnome-hufband,  and  avows  her  love, 

— High  o'er  her  couch  impending  diamonds  blaze, 

And  branching  gold  the  cryftal  roof  inlays ; 

With  verdant  light  the  modefl  emeralds  glow, 

Blue  fapphires  glare,  and  rubies  bjufli,  below,  420 

Light  piers  of  lazuli  the  dome  furround, 

And  pi&ured  mochoes  tefTelate  the  ground ; 

In  glittering  threads  along  reflective  walls 

The  warm  rill  murmuring  twinkles,  as  it  falls; 

Now  fmk  the  Eolian  firings,  and  now  they  fwell,  425 

And  Echoes  woo  in  every  vaulted  cell; 

While  on  white  wings  delighted  Cupids  play, 

Shake  their  bright  lamps,  and  flied  celeftial  day. 

Clofcd  in  an  azure  fig  by  fairy'  fp>ils, 
Bofom'd  in  down,  fair  CAPRI-FICA  dwells; —  430 


no  light.  It  is  found  by  dogs  or  fwine,  who  hunt  it  by  the  fmell.  Other 
plants  which  have  no  buds  or  branches  on  their  ftems,  as  the  grafles,  (hoof, 
out  numerous  ftoles  or  fcions  under  ground;  and  this  ttye  more,  as  their  tops 
or  herbs  are  eaten  by  cattle,  and  thus  preferve  themfelyes. 

Capri-feus.  1.  430.  Wild  fig.  The  fruit  of  the  fig  is  not  a  feed-vefiel, 
but  a  receptacle  inclofing  the  flov/er  within  it.  As  thefe  trees  bear  fome 
male  and  others  female  flowers,  immured  on  all  fides  by  the  fruit,  the  man- 
ner of  their  fecundation  was  very  unintelligible,  till  Tournefort  and  Ponte- 
dera  difcovered,  that  a  kind  of  gnat,  produced  in  the  male  figs,  carried  the 
fecundating  duft  on  its  wings,  (Cynips  Pfenes  Syft.  Nat.  919.)  and,  pene- 
trating the  female  fig,  thus  impregnated  the  flowers.  For  the  evidence  of 
this  wonderful  fad,  fee  the  word  Caprification,  in  Milne's  Botanical  Dic- 
tionary. The  figs  of  this  country  are  all  female,  and  their  feeds  not  proli- 
fic ;  and,  therefore,  they  can  only  be  propagated  by  layers  and  fuckers. 

Monfieiir  de  la  Hire  has  fhewn,  in  the  Memoir,  de  PAcadem.  de  Science, 
that  the  fummer  figs  of  Paris,  in  Provence,  Italy,  and  Malta,  have  all  per- 
fect ftamina,  and  ripen  not  only  their  fruits,  but  their  feed;  from  which 
feed  other  fig-trees  are  raifcd  ;  but  that  the  ftamina  of  the  autumnal  figs  arc 
abortive,  perhaps  owing  to  the  want  of  due  warmth.  Mr.  Milne,  in  his 
Botanical  Dictionary  (art.  Caprification),  fays,  that  the  cultivated  fig-trees 
have  a  few  male  flowers  placed  above  the  female  within  the  fame  caver- 
ing  or  receptacle ;  which,  in  warmer  climates,  perform  their  proper  office, 
but  in  colder  ones  become  abortive.  And  Linnxus  obferves,  that  fome  figfc 
have  the  navel  of  the  receptacle  open;  which  was  one  reafon  that  induced 
him  to  remove  this  plant  from  the  clafs  Clandestine  Marriage  to  the  clafs 
Polygamy.  Lin.  Spec.  Plant. 

From  all  thcfc  circumftances  I  mould  conjecture  that  thofe  female  fig- 
flowers,  which  are  clofed  on  all  fides  in  the  fruit  or  receptacle  without  any 

PART  II. 


i2»  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  H. 

So  fleeps  in  fllence  the  Curculio,  fhut 

In  the  dark  chambers  of  the  cavern'd  nut, 

Erodes  with  ivory  beak  the  vaulted  fhell, 

And  quits',  on  filmy  wings,  its  narrow  cell. 

So  the  pleafed  Linnet,  in  the  mofs-wove  neft,  435 

Waked  into  life  beneath  its  parent's  breaft, 

Chirps  in  the  gaping  iliell,  burfts  forth  erelong, 

Shakes  its  new  plumes,  and  tries  its  tender  fong. — • 

— And  now  the  talifman  (he  ftrikes,  that  charms 

Her  hufband- Sylph, — and  calls  him  to  her  arms. — -  440 

Quick,  the  light  Gnat  her  airy  Lord  beftrides, 

With  cobweb  reins  the  flying  courfer  guides^ 

From  cryflal  fteeps  of  viewlefs  ether  fprings, 

Cleaves  the  foft  air  on  ftill  expanded  wings ; 

Darts  like  a  funbeam  o'er  the  boundlefs  wave,  445 

And  feeks  the  beauty  in  her  fecret  cave. 

So  with  quick  impulfe  through  all  Nature's  frame 

Shoots  the  ele&ric  air  its  fubtle  flame. 

So  turns  the  impatient  needle  to  the  pole, 

Tho'  mountains  rife  between,  and  oceans  roll.  450 

Where  round  the  Orcades  white  torrents  roar, 
Scooping  with  ceafelefs  rage  the  incumbent  fhore. 
Wide  o'er  the  deep  a  dulky  cavern  bends 
Its  marble  arms,  and  high  in  air  impends ; 


male  ones,  are  rhonfters,  which  have  been  propagated  for  their  fruit,  like 
barberries,  and  grapes  without  feeds  in  them;  and  that  the  Caprification  is 
either  an  ancient  procefs  of  imaginary  ufe,  and  blindly  followed  in  fome 
countries,  or  that  it  may  contribute  to  ripen  the  fig  by  decreafing  its  vigour, 
like  cutting  off  a  circle  of  the  bark  from  the  branch  of  a  pear-tree.  Tour- 
nefort  feems  inclined  to  this  opinion ;  who  fays,  that  the  figs  in  Provence 
and  at  Paris  ripen  fooner  if  their  buds  be  pricked  with  a  draw  dipped  in 
olive-oil.  Plumbs  and  pears  pumftured  by  fome  infe<5l  ripen  fooner,  and  the 
part  round  the  puncture  is  fweeter.  Is  not  the  honey-dew  produced  by  the 
pun&ure  of  infeds?  Will  not  wounding  the  branch  of  a  pear-tree,  which 
is  too  vigorous,  prevent  the  bloffoms  from  falling  off;  as  from  fome  fig-tree* 
the  fruit  is  faid  to  fall  off  unlefs  they  are  wounded  by  caprification?  I  had 
laft  fpring  fix  young  trees  of  the  Ifchia  fig,  with  fruit  on  them,  in  pots  in  a 
ftove ;  on  removing  them  into  larger  boxes,  they  protruded  very  vigorous 
(hoots,  and  the  figs  all  fell  offj  which  I  afcribed  to  the  incrcafed  vigour  of 
the  plants. 


CANTO  IV.         LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS.  123 

Bafaltic  piers  the  ponderous  roof  fuftain,  455 

And  fteep  their  mafly  fandals  in  the  main ; 

Round  the  dim  walls,  and  through  the  whifpering  ailes, 

Hoarfe  breathes  the  wind,  the  glittering  water  boils. 

Here  the  charm'd  BYSSUS,  with  his  blooming  bride, 

Spreads  his  green  fails,  and  braves  the  foaming  tide ;  460 

The  ftar  of  Venus  gilds  the  twilight  wave, 

And  lights  her  votaries  to  the  fecret  cave ; 

Light  Cupids  flutter  round  the  nuptial  bed, 

And  each  coy  Sea-maid  hides  her  blufhing  head. 

Where  cool'd  by  rills,  and  curtain'd  round  by  woods,     465 
Slopes  the  green  dell  to  meet  the  briny  floods, 
The  fparkling  noon-beams  trembling  on  the  tide, 
The  PROTEUS-LOVER  woos  his  playful  bride, 
To  win  the  fair  he  tries  a  thoufand  forms, 
Bafks  on  the  faads,  or  gambols  in  the  ftorms,  470 


Bafaltic  piers.  1.  455.  This  defcription  alludes  to  the  cave  of  Fingal,  in 
the  ifland  of  Staffa.  The  bafaltic  columns,  which  compofe  the  Giants  Caufe- 
way  on  the  coaft  of  Ireland,  as  well  as  thofe  which  fupport  the  cave  of  Fin- 
gal,  are  evidently  of  volcanic  origin,  as  is  well  illuftrated  in  an  ingenious 
paper  of  Mr.  Keir,  in  the  Philof.  Tranf.  who  obferved  in  the  glafs,  which 
had  been  long  in  a  fufing  heat  at  the  bottom  of  the  pots  in  the  glafs-houfes, 
at  Stourbridge,  that  cryftals  were  produced  of  a  form  limilar  to  the  parts 
of  the  bafalf  ic  columns  of  the  Giants  Caufeway. 

ByJJus.  1.  459.  Clandestine  Marriage.  It  floats  on  the  fea  in  the  day,  and, 
finks  a  little  during  the  night ;  it  is  found  in  caverns  on  the  northern  fhores, 
of  a  pale  green  colour,  and  as  thin  as  paper. 

The  Proteus-lover.  1.  468.  Conferva  polymorpha.  This  vegetable  is  put 
amongft  the  cryptogamia,  or  clandeftine  marriages,  by  Linnaeus;  but,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Ellis,  the  males  and  females  are  on  different  plants.  Philof. 
Tranf.  vol.  Ivii.  It  twice  changes  its  colour,  from  red  to  brown,  and  then 
to  black ;  and  changes  its  form  by  lofmg  its  lower  leaves,  and  elongating 
fome  of  the  upper  ones,  fo  as  to  be  miftaken  by  the  unfkilful  for  different 
plants.  It  grows  on  the  fhores  of  this  country. 

There  is  another  plant,  Medicago  polymorpha,  which  may  be  faid  to  af- 
fume  a  great  variety  of  fhapes;  as  the  feed-veffels  refemble  fometimes  fnail- 
horns,  at  other  times  caterpillars  with  or  without  long  hair  upon  them;  by 
which  means  it  is  probable  they  fometimes  elude  the  depredations  of  thofc 
infers.  The  feeds  of  Calendula,  Marigold,  bend  up  like  a  hairy  caterpil- 
lar, with  their  prickles  briflling  outwards,  and  may  thus  deter  fome  birds  or 
infe<Sls  from  preying  upon  them.  Salicornia  alfo  affumes  an  animal  fimili- 
tude.  Phil.  Bot.  p.  87.  See  note  on  Iris  in  additional  notes;  and  Cypripe* 
dia,  in  Part  I. 


iH  BOTANIC  CAREEN.  PARI-IL 

A  Dolphin  now,  his  fcaly  fides  he  laVes, 

And  bears  the  fportive  Darrifel  on  the  waves ; 

She  flrikes  the  cymbal  as  he  moves  along, 

And  wondering  Ocean  liftens  to  the  fong. 

—And  now  a  (potted  Pard  the  lover  ftalks,  475 

Plays  round  her  fteps,  and  guards  her  favour'd  walks ; 

As  with  white  teeth  he  prints  her  hand,  carefs'd, 

And  lays  his  velvet  paw  upon  her  breaft, 

O'er  his  round  face  her  fnowy  fingers  (train 

The  filken  knots,  and  fit  the  ribbon-rein.  480 

• — And  now  a  Swan,  he  fpreads  his  plumy  fails, 

And  proudly  glides  before  the  fanriing  gales; 

Pleafed  on  the  flowery  brink,  with  graceful  hand; 

She  waves  her  floating  lover  to  the  land ; 

Bright  fhines  his  finuous  neck,  with  crimfon  beak  485 

He  prints  fond  kiffes  on  her  glowing  cheek, 

Spreads  his  broad  wings,  elates  his  ebon  creft, 

And  clafps  the  beauty  to  his  downy  bred. 

A  hundred  virgins  join  a  hundred  fwains, 
And  fond  ADONIS  leads  the  fprighKty  trains;  490 

Pair  after  pair,  along  his  facred  groves 
To  Hymen's  fane  the  bright  proceflion  moves  5 
Each  fmiling  youth  a  myrtle  garland  (hades, 
And  wreaths  of  rofes  veil  the  bluihing  maids ; 
Light  Joys  on  twinkling  feet  attend  the  throng,  495 

Weave  the  gay  dance,  or  raife  the  frolic  fong ; 

Adonis.  1.  490.  Many  males  and  many  females  live  together  in  the  fame 
flower.  It  may  feem  a  folecifm  in  language,  to  call  a  flower,  which  con- 
tains many  of  both  i'exes,  an  individual ;  and  the  more  fo  to  call  a  tree  or 
fiirub  an  individual,  which  confifts  of  Ib  many  flowers.  Every  tree,  indeed, 
ought  to  be  confidered  as  a  family  or  fwarm  of  its  refpective  buds;  but  the 
buds  themfelves  feem  to  be  individual  plants;  becaufe  each  has  leaves  or 
lungs  appropriated  to  it;  and  the  bark  of  the  tree  is  only  a  congeries  of  the 
roots  of  all  thefe  individual  buds.  Thus  hollow  oak-trees  and  willows  are 
often  fecrt  with  the  whole  wood  decayed  and  gone,  and  yet  the  few  remain- 
ing branches  flourifh  with  vigour;  but  in  refped:  to  the  male  and  female 
parts  of  a  flower,  they  do  not  deftroy  its  individuality  any  more  than  the 
number  of  paps  of  a  fow,  or  the  number  of  her  cotyledons,  each  of  which 
includes  one  of  her  young. 

The  fociety  called  the  Areoi,  in  the  ifland  of  Otaheite,  confifts  of  about 
IOO  males  arid  Ico  females,  Vvho  form  one  promifcuous  marriage. 


CANTO  IV.        LOVES  OF  THE  PLANTS. 

—Thick,  as  they  pafs,  exulting  Cupids  fling 
Promifcuous  arrows  from  the  founding  firing ; 
On  wings  of  gofTamer  foft  Whifpers  fly, 
And  the  fly  Glance  fteals  fide-long  from  the  eye.  500 

— As  round  his  fhrine  the  gaudy  circles  bow, 
And  feal  with  muttering  lips  the  faithlefs  vow, 
Licentious  Hymen  joins  their  mingled  hands, 
And  loofely  twines  the  meretricious  bands. — 
Thus  where  pleafed  VENUS j  in  the  fouthern  main,          505 
Sheds  all  her  fmiles  on  Otaheite's  plain, 
Wide  o'er  the  ifle  her  filken  net  {lie  draws, 
And  the  Loves  laugh  at  all  but  Nature's  laws.*' 

Here  ceafed  the  Goddefs, — o'er  the  filent  firings 
Applauding  Zephyrs  fwept  their  fluttering  wings;  510 

Enraptured  Sylphs  arofe  in  murmuring  crowds 
To  air-wove  canopies  and  pillowy  clouds  ; 
Each  Gnome  relu6tant  fought  his  earthy  cell, 
And  each  chill  Floret  clos'd  her  velvet  bell. 
Then,  on  foft  tiptoe,  NIGHT  approaching  near  515 

Hung  o'er  the  tunelefs  lyre  his  fable  ear; 
Gem'd  with  bright  ftars  the  ftill  ethereal  plain, 
And  bade  his  Nightingales  repeat  the  ftrain* 


TH  E 

BOTANIC  GARDEN. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTES. 


T, 
HESE  antherlefs  filaments  feem  to  be 

an  endeavour  of  the  plant  to  produce  more  ftamens,  as  would  appear  from, 
fome  experiments  of  M.  Reynier,  inftituted  for  another  purpofe :  he  cut 
away  the  ftamens  of  many  flowers,  with  defign  to  prevent  their  fecundity, 
and  in  many  inftances  the  flower  threw  out  new  filaments  from  the  wounded 
part,  of  different  lengths,  but  did  not  produce  new  anthers.  The  experi- 
ments were  made  on  the  geum  rivale,  different  kinds  of  mallows,  and  the 
aechinops  citro.  Critical  Review  for  March,  1788. 

P.  15.  Addltian  to  the  note  on  Iris.  In  the  Perfian  Iris  the  end  of  the  lower 
petal  is  purple,  with  white  edges  and  orange  ftreaks,  creeping,  as  it  were, 
into  the  mouth  of  the  flower  like  an  infect ;  by  which  deception  in  its  native 
climate  it  probably  prevents  a  fimilar  infect  from  plundering  it  of  its  honey; 
the  edges  of  the  lower  petal  lap  over  thofe  of  the  upper  one,  which  pre- 
vents it  from  opening  too  wide  on  fine  days,  and  facilitates  its  return  at 
night ;  whence  the  rain  is  excluded,  and  the  air  admitted.  See  Polymor- 
pha,  Rubia,  and  Cypripedia,  in  Part  I. 

P.  17.  Additional  note  on  Cbondrilla.  In  the  natural  ftate  of  the  expanded 
flower  of  the  barberry,  the  ftamens  lie  on  the  petals;  under  the  concave 
iummits  of  which  the  anthers  flicker  themfelves,  and  in  this  fituation  re- 
main perfectly  rigid;  button  touching  the  infide  of  the  filament  near  its 
bafe  with  a  fine  briftle,  or  blunt  needle,  the  ftamen  inftantly  bends  up- 
wards, and  the  anther,  embracing  the  ftigma,  fheds  its  duft.  Obfervations 
oa  the  Irritation  of  Vegetables,  by  T.  E.  Smith,  M.  D. 

P.  19.  Addition  to  the  note  on  Silene.  I  faw  a  plant  of  the  Dionaea  Muf- 
cipula,  Fly-trap  of  Venus,  this  day,  in  the  collection  of  Sir  B.  Boothby,  at 
Afhbui'n-Hall,  Derbyfhire,  Aug.  20th,  1788;  and  on  drawing  a  ftraw 
along  the  middle  of  the  rib  of  the  leaves  as  they  lay  upon  the  ground  round 
the  ftem,  each  of  them,  in  about  a  fecond  of  time,  clofed  and  doubled  itfelf 
up,  crofling  the  thorns  over  the  oppofite  edge  of  the  leaf,  like  the  teeth  of  a 
fpring  rat-trap  :  of  this  plant  I  was  favoured  with  an  elegant  coloured  draw- 
ing, by  Mifs  Mara  Jackfon,  of  Tarporly,  in  Cheshire,  a  Lady  who  adds 
much  botanical  knowledge  to  many  other  elegant  acquirements. 

In  the  Apocynum  Androfajmifolium,  one  kind  of  Dog's  bane,  the  anthers 
converge  over  the  nectaries,  which  confift  of  five  glandular  oval  corpuicles 
furrousding  the  germ;  and,  at  the  fame  time,  admit  air  to  the  nectariej 


128  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

at  the  interface  between  each  anther.  But  when  a  fly  inferts  its  probofcia 
between  th«le  anthers  to  plunder  the  honey,  they  converge  clofer,  and  with 
fuch  violence  as  to  detain  the  fly,  which  thus  generally  perifhes.  This  ac- 
count was  related  to  me  by  R.  W.  Darwin,  Efq.  of  Elfton,  in  Nottingharn- 
fliire,  who  Ihowed  me  the  plant  in  flower,  July  2d,  178.8,  with  a  fly  thus 
held  fail  by  the  end  of  its  probofcis,  and  was  well  feen  by  a  magnifying  lens, 
and  which,  in  vain,  repeatedly  ftruggled  to  difengagc  itfelf,  till  the  converg- 
ing anthers  were  feparated  by  means  of  a  pin:  on  fome  days  he  had  ob- 
ferved  that  almoft  every  flower  of  this  elegant  plant  had  a  fly  in  it  thus  en- 
tangled; and,  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  favoured  me  with  his  further  ob- 
fervations  on  this  fubjedt. 

"  My  Apocynum  is  not  yet  out  of  flower.  I  have  often  vifited  it,  and 
"  have  frequently  found  four  or  five  flies,  fome  alive,  and  fome  dead,  in  its 
u  flowers;  they  are  generally  caught  by  the  trunk  or  probofcis,  fometimes 
"  by  the  trunk  and.  a.  leg :  there  is  one  at  prefent  only  caught  by  a  leg. 
"  I  don't  know  that  this  plant  fleeps,  as  the  flowers  remain  open  in  the 
"  night;  yet  the  flies  frequently  make  their  efcape.  In  a  plant  of  Mr.  Or- 
•"  doyno's,  an  ingenious  gardener  at  Newark,  who  is  pofleffed  of  a  great  col- 
"  lection  of  plants,  I  faw  many  flowers  of  an  Apocynum  with  three  dead 
"  flies  in  each :  they  are  a  thin-bodied  fly,  and  rather  lefs  than  the  common 
"  houfe-fly  ;  but  I  have  feen  two  or  three  other  forts  of  flies  thus  arrefted 
"  by  the  plant.  Aug.  I  a,  1788." 

P.  21.  Additional  note  on  Ilex.  The  efficient  caufe  which  renders  the  hol- 
lies prickly,  in  Needwood  Foreft,  only  as  high  as  the  animals  can  reach  them, 
may  arife  from  th£  lower  branches  being  conftantly  cropped  by  them,  and 
thus  fhoot  forth  more  luxuriant  foliage :  it  is  probable  the  fhears  in  garden- 
hollies  may  produce  the  fame  effedr.,  which  is  equally  curious,  as  prickles 
are  not  thus  produced  on  other  plants. 

.  P.  35.  Additional  note  on  Ufoa.  M.  Hubert  made  fome  obfervations  on 
the  air  contained  in  the  cavities  of  the  bambou.  The  ftems  of  thefe  canes 
were  from  40  to  50  feet  in  height,  and  4  or  5  inches  in  diameter,  and  might 
contain  about  30  pints  of  elaftic  air.  He  cut  a  bambou,  and  introduced  a 
lighted  candle  into  the  cavity,  which  was  extinguifhed  immediately  on  its 
entrance.  He  tried  this  about  60  times  in  a  cavity  of  the  bambou,  containing 
about  two  pints.  He  introduced  mice  at  different  times  into  thefe  cavities, 
which  feemed  to  be  fomewhat  affected,  but  foon  recovered  their  agility. 
The  ft  em  of  the  bambou  is  not  hollow  till  it  rifes  more  than  one  foot  from 
the  earth  ;  the  divifions  between  the  cavities  are  convex  downwards.  Ob- 
ferv.  fur  la  Physique,  par  M.  Rozier,  1.  33,  p.  130. 

P.  103.  Addition  to  the  note  on  Troptfolum.  In  Sweden  a  very  curious 
phenomenon  has  been  obferved  on  certain  flowers,  by  M.  Haggren,  Lec- 
turer in  Natural  Hiftory.  One  evening  he  perceived  a  faint  flafh  of  light 
repeatedly  dart  from  a  Marigold:  furprized  at  fuch  an  uncommon  appear- 
ance, he  refolved  to  examine  it  with  attention;  and,  to  be  affured  that  it 
\vas  no  deception  of  the  eye,  he  placed  a  man  near  him,  with  orders  to 
make  a  fignal  at  the  moment  when  he  obferved  the  light.  They  both  iVw 
It  conftantly  at  the  fame  moment. 


DESCRIPTION  QF  THE  BOHON-UPAS.         129 

The  light  was  moil  brilliant  on  Marigolds,  of  an  orange  or  flame  colour 5 
but  fcarcely  vifible  on  pale  ones. 

The  flafli  was  frequently  feen  on  the  fame  flower  two  or  three  times  in 
quick  fucceflion,  but  more  commonly  at  intervals  of  feveral  minutes;  ami 
when  feveral  flowers  in  the  fame  place  emitted  their  light  together,  it  cou!4 
be  obferved  at  a  confiderable  diftance. 

This  phenomenon  was  remarked  in  the  months  of  July  and  Auguft,  at 
fun-fet,  and  for  half  an  hour  after,  when  the  atmpfphere  was  clear;  bu^ 
after  a  rainy  day,  or  when  the  air  was  loaded  with  vapours,  nothing  of  i$ 
was  feen. 

The  following  flowers  emitted  flafhes  more  or  lefs  vivid,  in  this  order; 
•  I.  The  Marigold,  (Calendula  Ojjiciiialis). 
.   2.  Garden  Naflurtion,  (tropcsolum  majusj. 

3.  Orange  Lily,  ( Lilium  liMiferum). 

4.  African  Marigold,  (Tagetes  patula  et  erefta). 

Sometimes  it  was  alfo  obferved  on  the  Sun -flowers,  (Heliantbus  annum}, 
But  blight  yellow,  or  flame  colour,  feemed  in  general  neceffary  for  the  pro- 
duction of  this  light;  for  it  was  never  feen  on  the  flowers  of  any  other 
colour. 

To  dJfcover  whether  fome  little  infecls,  or  phofphoric  worms,  might  not 
be  the  caufe  of  it,  the  flowers  Avere  carefully  examined  even  with  a  microf- 
cope,  without  any  fuch  being  found. 

From  the  rapidity  of  the  flaih,  and  other  circumftances,  it  might  be  conjee? 
tured,  that  there  is  fomething  of  electricity  in  this  phenomenon.  It  is  well 
known,  that  when  the  pljlil  of  a  flower  is  impregnated,  the  pollen  burfts 
away  by  its  elafticity,  with  which  electricity  may  be  combined.  But  M. 
Haggren,  after  having  obferved  the  flafh  from  the  Orange-lily,  the  anther* 
of  which  are  a  confiderable  fpace  diftanf  from  the  petals,  found  that  the  light 
proceeded  from  the  petals  only ;  whence  he  concludes  that  this  electric  light 
is  caufed  by  the  pollen,  which,  in  flying  off,  is  fcattered  upon  the  petals. — 
Obfer.  Physique  par  M.  Rozier,  vol.  xxxiii.  p.  ill. 


Defer -iption  of  tie  Poifon-Tree  in  the  I/land  of  JAVA.      Tranjlatcd  from  tie  ori- 
ginal Dutch  of  N.  P.  Foerfch. 

THIS  deftructive  tree  is  called,  in  the  Malayan  language,  Bohon-Upasf 
and  has  been  defer ibed  by  naturajiib;  but  their  accounts  have  been  fo  tinc- 
tured with  the  marvellous,  that  the  whole  narration  has  been  fuppofed  to  be 
an  ingenious  fiction  by  the  generality  of  readers.  Nor  is  this  in  the  leafl 
degree  furprifing,  when  the  circumftances,  which  we  fiiall  faithfully  relate 
in  this  defcription,  are  confidered. 

I  muft  acknowledge,  that  I  long  doubted  the  exiftence  of  this  tree,  un- 
til a  ftricler  inquiry  convinced  me  of  my  error.  1  fhall  now  only  relato 
.fimple  unadorned  facts,  of  which  I  have  been  an  eye-witnefs.  My  readers 
may  depend  upon  the  fidelity  of  this  account.  In  the  year  1774,  I  was  fia- 
tioned  at  Batavia,  as  a  furgeon,  in  the  fervice  of  the  Dutch  Baft-India  Com- 

PART  11.  K 


'3°  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II. 

pany.  During  my  refidence  there,  I  received  feveral  different  accounts  of 
the  Bohon-Upas,  and  the  violent  effe&s  of  its  poifon.  They  all  then 
feemed  incredible  to  me,  but  raifed  my  curiofity  in  fo  high  a  degree,  that  I 
refolved  to  inveftigate  this  fubjecl:  thoroughly,  and  to  truft  only  to  my  own 
Derivations.  In  confequence  of  this  refolution,  I  applied  to  the  Governor- 
General,  Mr.  Petrus  Albertus  van  der  Parra,  for  a  pafs  to  travel  through 
the  country :  my  requeft  was  granted;  and,  having  procured  every  informa- 
tion, I  fet  out  on  my  expedition.  I  had  procured  a  recommendation  from 
an  old  Malayan  prieft  to  another  prieft,  who  lives  on  the  nearefl  inhabita- 
ble fpot  to  the  tree,  which  is  about  fifteen  or  fixteen  miles  diftant.  The 
letter  proved  of  great  fervice  to  me  in  my  undertaking,  as  that  prieft  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  Emperor  to  refide  there,  in  order  to  prepare  for  eternity  the 
fouls  of  thofe  who,  for  different  crimes,  are  fentenced  to  approach  the  tree, 
and  to  procure  the  poifon. 

The  Bohon-Upas  is  fituated  in  the  ifland  of  Java,  about  twenty-feven 
leagues  from  Bata-via,  fourteen  from  Soura-Cbarta,  the  feat  of  the  Emperor, 
and  between  eighteen  and  twenty  leagues  from  Tinkjoe,  the  prefent  refidence 
of  the  Sultan  of  Java.  It  is  furrounded  on  all  fides  by  a  circle  of  high 
hills  and  mountains;  and  the  country  round  it,  to  the  diftance  of  ten  or 
twelve  miles  from  the  tree,  is  entirely  barren.  Not  a  tree,  nor  a  fhrub,  nor 
even  the  leaft  plant  or  grafs,  is  to  be  feen.  I  have  made  the  tour  all  around 
this  dangerous  fpot,  at  about  eighteen  miles  diftant  from  the  centre,  and  I 
found  the  afpe6l  of  the  country  on  all  fides  equally  dreary.  The  eafieft  af- 
cent  of  the  hills  is  from  that  part  where  the  old  ecclefiaftic  dwells.  From 
his  houfe  the  criminals  are  fent  for  the  poifon,  into  which  the  points  of  all 
warlike  inftruments  are  dipped.  It  is  of  high  value,  and  produces  a  confi- 
derable' revenue  to  the  Emperor. 

yf  jv0z.v;#  of  the  matins?  in  ti'hicb  the  Poifon  Is  procured. 

The  poifon  which  is  procured  from  this  tree,  is  a  gum  that  ifTues  out  be- 
tween the  bark  and  the  tree  itfelf,  like  the  camphor.  Malefactors  who,  for 
their  crimes,  are  fentenced  to  die,  are  the  only  perfons  who  fetch  the  poifon ; 
and.  this  is  the  only  chance  they  have  of  faving  their  lives.  After  fentence  is 
pronounced  upon  them  by  the  judge,  they  are  afked  in  court,  whether  they 
will  die  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner,  or  whether  they  will  go  to  the 
Upas  tree  for  a  box  of  poifon  ?  They  commonly  prefer  the  latter  propofal, 
as  there  is  not  only  fome  chance  of  preferving  their  lives,  but  alfo  a  cer- 
tainty, in  cafe  of  their  fafe  return,  that  a  provifion  will  be  made  for  them 
in  future  by  the  Emperor.  They  are  alfo  permitted  to  afk  a  favour  from 
the  Emperor,  which  is  generally  of  a  trifling  nature,  and  commonly  granted. 
They  are  then  provided  with  a  filver  or  tortoifefhell  box,  in  which  they  arc 
to  put  the  poifonous  gum,  and  are  properly  inftrucled  how  to  proceed  while 
they  are  Upon  their  dangerous  expedition.  Among  other  particulars,  they  are 
always  told  to  attend  to  the  direction  of  the  winds ;  as  they  are  to  go  to- 
wards the  tree  before  the  wind,  fo  th^t  the  effluvia  from  the  tree  are  al- 
ways blown  from  them.  They  are  told,  like  wife,  to  travel  with  the  utmoftt 
Uifpatch,  as  that  is  the  only  method  of  infuring  a  fafe  return.  They  are  aK 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BOHON-UPAS.         1 3 1 

terwards  fent  to  the  houfe  of  the  old  prieft,  to  which  place  they  are  com-  • 
moniy  attended  by  their  friends  and  relations.     Here  they  generally  remain 
fome  days,  in   expectation  of  a  favourable  breeze.     During  that  time  the 
ccclefiaftic  prepares  them  for  their  future  fate  by  prayers  and  admonitions. 

When  the  hour  of  their  departure  arrives,  the  prieft  puts  on  them  a  long 
leather-cap,  with  two  glafles  before  their  eyes,  which  comes  down  as  far 
as  their  breaft;  and  alfo  provides  them  with  a  pair  of  leather  gloves.  They 
are  then  conducted  by  the  prieft,  and  their  frknds  and  relations,  about  two 
miles  on  their  journey.  Here  the  prieft  repeats  his  inftru&ions,  and  tells 
them  where  they  are  to  look  for  the  tree.  He  fhews  them  a  hill,  which 
they  are  told  to  afcend,  and  that  on  the  other  fide  they  will  find  a  rivulet 
which  they  are  to  follow,  and  which  will  conduct  them  directly  to  the 
Upas.  They  now  take  leave  of  each  other ;  and,  amidft  prayers  for  their 
fuccefs,  the  delinquents  haften  away. 

The  worthy  old  ecclefiaftic  has  affured  me,  that  during  his  refidence  there? 
for  upwards  of  thirty  years,  he  had  difmiffed  above  feven  hundred  crimi- 
nals in  the  manner  which  I  have  defcribed ;  and  that  fcarcely  two  out  of 
twenty  have  returned.  He  fhewed  me  a  catalogue  of  all  the  unhappy  fuf- 
ferers,  with  the  date  of  their  departure  from  his  houfe  annexed;  and  a  lift 
of  the  offences  for  which  they  had  been  condemned:  to  which  was  added, 
a  lift  of  thofe  who  had  returned  in  fafety.  I  afterwards  faw  another  lift 
of  thefe  culprits,  at  the  jail-keeper's,  at  S  our  a- Chart  a  ^  and  found  that  they 
perfectly  correfpanded  with  each  other,  and  with  the  different  informations 
which  I  afterwards  obtained. 

I  was  prefent  at  fome  of  thefe  melancholy  ceremonies,  and  defired  different 
delinquents  to  bring  with  them  fome  pieces  of  the  wood,  or  a  fmall  branch, 
or  fome  leaves,  of  this  wonderful  tree.  I  have  alfo  given  them  filk  cords, 
defiring  them  to  meafure  its  thicknefs.  I  never  could  procure  more  than 
two  dry  leaves  that  were  picked  up  by  one  of  them  on  his  return ;  and  all 
I  could  learn  from  him,  concerning  the  tree  itfelf,  \yas,  that  it  flood  on  the 
border  of  a  rivulet,  as  defcrihed  by  the  old  prieft ;.  that  it  was  of  a  middling 
fize ;  that  five  or  fix  young  trees  of  the  fame  kind  flood  clofe  by  it ;  but 
that  no  other  fhrub  or  plant  could  be  feen  near  it;  and  that  the  ground  was 
of  a  brownifh  fand,  full  of  ftones,  almoft  impracticable  for  travelling,  and 
covered  with  dead  bodies.  After  many  converfutions  with  the  old  Malayan 
prieft,  I  queftioned  him  about  the  firft  difcovery,  and  afked  his  opinion  of  this 
dangerous  tree ;  upon  which  he  gaye  me  the  following  anfwer ; 

"  We  are  told  in  our  new  Alcoran,  that,  above  an  hundred  years  ago,  the 
"  country  around  the  tree  was  inhabited  by  a  people  ftrongly  addicted  to  the 
"  fins  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha;  .when  the  great  Prophet  Mahomet  deter- 
"  mined  not  to  fuffer  them  to  lead  fuch  deteftable  lives  any  longer,  he  applied 
"  to  God  to  punifh  them :  upon  which  God  caufed  this  tree  to  grow  out  of 
"  the  earth,  whi>*  deftroyed  them  all,  and  rendered  the  country  for  ever 
"  uninhabitable." 

Such  was  the  Malayan  opinion.  I  fhall  not  attempt  to  comment;  but 
mTjft  obferve,  that  all  the  Malayans  confider  this  tree  as  an  holy  inftru- 
ment  of  the  great  prophet  to  punifh  the  fins  of  mankind ;  and,  therefore, 


i$z  BOTANIC  GARDEM.  PART  II. 

to  die  of  the  poifon  of  the  Upas  is  generally  confidered  among  them  as  ah 
honourable  death.  For  that  reaibn  I  alfo  obfervcd,  that  the  delinquents. 
Who  were  going  to  the  tree,  were  generally  dreffed  in  their  beft  apparel. 

This,  however,  is  certain,  though  it  may  appear  incredible,  that  from 
fifteen  to  eighteen  miles  round  this  tree,  not  only  no  human  creature  can 
exift,  but  that,  in  that  fpace  of  ground,  no  living  animal  of  any  kind  has 
ever  been  difcovered.  I  have  alfo  been  affured  by  feveral  perfons  of  vera- 
city, that  there  are  no  fiih  in  the  waters,  nor  has  any  rat^  moufe,  or  any 
other  vermin,  been  feen  there;  and  when  any  birds  fly  fo  near  this  tree, 
that  the  effluvia  reaches  them,  they  fall  a  facrifice  to  the  effects  of  the  poi- 
fon.  This  circumftance  has  been  afcertained  by  different  delinquents,  who, 
in  their  return,  have  feen  the  birds  drop  down,  and  have  picked  them  up 
dead,  and  brought  them  to  the  old  ecclefiaftlc. 

I  will  here  mention  an  inilance,  which  proves  the  fact  beyond  all  doubt, 
knd  which  happened  during  my  ftay  at  Java. 

In  the  year  1775,  a  rebellion  broke  out  among  the  fubjeets  of  the  Maf- 
Tay,  a  fovereign  prince,  whofe  dignity  is  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the  Em- 
peror. They  refufed  to  pay  a  duty  impofed  upon  them  by  their  fovereign, 
ivhom  they  openly  oppofed.  The  Maflay  fent  a  body  of  a  thoufand 
troops  to  difperfe  the  rebels^  and  to  drive  them,  with  their  families,  out 
of  his  dominions.  Thus  four  hundred  families,  confifting  of  above  fix- 
teen  hundred  fouls,  were  obliged  to  leave  their  native  country.  Neither 
the  Emperor  nor  the  Sultan  would  give  them  protection,  not  only  becaufe 
they  were  rebels,  but  alfo  through  fear  of  difpleafing  their  neighbour,  the 
Maffay.  In  this  diftrefsftil  fituation,  they  had  no  other  refource  than  to 
repair  to  the  uncultivated  parts  round  the  Upas,  and  requefted  permiffioii 
of  the  Emperor  to  fettle  there.  Their  requeft  was  granted,  on  condition 
of  their  fixing  their  abode  not  more  than  twelve  or  fourteen  miles  from 
the  tree,  in  order  not  to  deprive  the  inhabitants  already  fettled  there,  at  a 
greater  diflance,  of  their  cultivated  lands.  With  this  they  were  obliged 
to  comply;  but  the  confequence  was,  that  in  lefs  than  two  months  their 
number  was  reduced  to  about  three  hundred.  The  chiefs  of  thofe  who  re- 
mained returned  to  the  Maflay,  informed  him  of  their  loffes,  and  intreated 
his  pardon,  which  induced  him  to  receive  them  again  as  ftibjects,  thinking 
them  fufficiently  punifhed  for  their  mifconduct.  I  have  feen  and  converfed 
with  feveral  of  thofe  who  furvived,  foon  after  their  return.  They  all  had 
the  appearance  of  perfons  tainted  with  an  infectious  diforder;  they  looked 
pale  and  weak,  and,  from  the  account  which  they  gave  of  the  lofs  of  their 
comrades,  and  of  the  fymptoms  and  circumftances  which  attended  their  dii- 
folution,  fuch  as  ccnvulfions,  and  other  figns  of  a  violent  death,  I  was  fully 
convinced  that  they  fell  victims  to  the  poifon. 

This  violent  effect  of  the  poifori  at  fo  great  a  diftance  from  the  tree 
certainly  appears  furprifing,  and  almoit  incredible;  and  eipecially,  when  we 
confider  that  it  is  pcflible  for  delinquents  who  approach  the  tree  to  return 
alive.  My  wonder,  however,  in  a  great  meafure,  ceafed,  after  I  had  made 
the  following  obfervations  : 

I  have  fuid  before,  that  malefactors  are  inftructcd  to  go  to  the  tree  with 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BOHON-UPAS.       133 

the  wind,  and  to  return  againft  the  wind.  When  the  wind  continues  to 
blow  from  the  fame  quarter  while  the  delinquent  travels  thirty,  or  fix  and 
thirty  miles,  if  he  be  of  a  good  conftitution,  he  certainly  furvives.  But  what 
proves  the  moft  deftru&ive  is,  that  there  is  no  dependence  on  the  wind  in 
that  part  of  the  world  for  any  length  of  time. — There  are  no  regular  land- 
winds;  and  the  fea-wind  is  not  perceived  there  at  all,  the  fituation  of  the 
tree  being  at  too  great  a  diftance,  and  furrounded  by  high  mountains  and 
uncultivated  forefts.  Befides,  the  wind  there  never  blows  a  frelh  regular 
gale,  but  is  commonly  merely  a  current  of  light,  foft  breezes,  which  pafs 
through  the  different  openings  of  the  adjoining  mountains.  It  is  alfo  fre- 
quently difficult  to  determine  from  what  part  of  the  globe  the  wind  really 
comes,  as  it  is  divided  by  various  obftru6tions  in  its  paffage,  which  eafily 
change  the  direction  of  the  wind,  and  often  totally  deftroy  its  effects. 

I,  therefore,  impute  the  diftant  effefts  of  the  poifon,  in  a  great  meafure, 
to  the  conftant  gentle  winds  in  thofe  parts,  which  have  not  power  enough 
to  difperfe  the  poifonous  particles.  If  high  winds  were  more  frequent  and 
durable  there,  they  would  certainly  weaken  very  much,  and  even  deftroy 
the  obnoxious  effluvia  of  the  poifon ;  but  without  them,  the  air  remains  in- 
fedled  and  pregnant  with  thefe  poifonous  vapours. 

I  am  the  more  convinced  of  this,  as  the  worthy  ecclefiaftic  raflured  me, 
that  a  dead  calm  is  always  attended  with  the  greateft  danger,  as  there  is  a 
continual  perfpiration  iffuing  from  the  tree,  which  is  feen  to  rife  and  fpread 
in  the  air,  like  the  putrid  fleam  of  a  marfhy  cavern. 

Experiments  mude  ivltb  tie  Gum  of  the  UPAS-TilEE. 

In  the  year  1776,  in  the  month  of  February,  I  was  prefent  at  the  exe- 
cution of  thirteen  of  the  Emperor's  concubines,  at  Soura-Charta,  who  were 
convivfled  of  infidelity  to  the  Emperor's  bed.  It  was  in  the  forenoon,  about 
eleven  o'clock,  when  the  fair  criminals  were  led  into  an  open  fpace,  within 
the  walls  of  the  Emperor's  palace.  There  the  judge  paffed  fentence  upon 
them,  by  which  they  were  doomed  to  fuffer  death  by  a  lancet,  poifoned  with 
Upas.  After  this  the  Alcoran  was  preferred  to  them,  and  they  were,  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  their  great  prophet  Mahomet,  to  acknowledge  and 
to  affirm  by  oath,  that  the  charges  brought  againft  them,  together  with  the 
fentence  and  their  punifhment,  were  fair  and  equitable.  This  they  did,  by 
laying  their  right  hand  upon  the  Alcoran,  their  left  hand  upon  their  breaft, 
and  their  eyes  lifted  towards  heaven ;  the  judge  then  held  the  Alcoran  to 
their  lips,  and  they  kifled  it. 

Thefe  ceremonies  over,  the  executioner  proceeded  on  his  bufmefs  in  the 
following  manner : — Thirteen  pofts,  each  about  five  feet  high,  had  been 
previoufly  erected.  To  thefe  the  delinquents  were  faftened,  and  their  breafts 
flripped  naked.  In  this  fituation  they  remained  a  fhort  time  in  continual 
prayers,  attended  by  feveral  priefts,  until  a  fignal  was  given  by  the  judge  to 
the  executioner ;  on  which  the  latter  produced  an  inftrument,  much  like  the 
ipring  lancet  ufed  by  farriers  for  bleeding  horfcs.  With  this  inftrument,  it 
being  poifoned  with  the  gum  of  the  Upas,  the  unhappy  wretches  were  lanc- 
ed in  the  middle  of  their  breafts,  and  the  operation  was  performed  upoa 
them  all  in  lefs  than?two  minutes. 


134  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  IL 

My  aftonifhment  was  raifed  to  the  higheft  degree,  when  I  beheld  the  fu<4- 
'  den  effects  of  that  poifon;  for  in  about  five  minutes  after  they  were  lanced 
they  were  taken  with  a  tremor ,  attended  with  a  fubfultus  tendinum,  after 
which  they  died  in  the  greateft  agonies,  crying  out  to  God  and  Mahomet 
for  mercy.  In  fixteen  minutes  by  my  watch,  which  I  held  in  my  hand,  all 
the  criminals  were  no  more.  Some  hours  after  their  death,  I  obferved  their 
bodies  full  of  livid  fpots,  much  like  thofe  of  the  Petcchia:^  their  faces  fwelled, 
their  colour  changed  to  a  kind  of  blue,  their  eyes  looked  yellow,  &c.  &c. 

About  a  fortnight  after  this  I  had  an  opportunity  of  feeing  fuch  another 
execution  at  Samarang.  Seven  Malays  were  executed  there  with  the  fame 
inftrument,  and  in  the  fame  manner;  and  I  found  the  operation  in  the  poifoo, 
and  the  fpots  in  their  bodies,  exadly  the  fame. 

Thefe  circumftances  made  me  defirous  to  try  an  experiment  with  fomc 
animals,  in  order  to  be  convinced  of  the  real  effeds  of  this  poifon;  and  as 
I  had  then  two-  young  puppies,  I  thought  them  the  fitteft  objects  for  my 
purpofe.-  I  accordingly  procured,  with  great  difficulty,  fome  grains  of  Upas. 
I  diffolved  half  a  grain  of  that  gum  in  a  fmall  quantity  of  arrack,  and  dip- 
fed  a  lancet  into  it.  With  this  poifoned  inftrument  I  made  an  incifion  in 
the  lower  mufcular  part  of  the  belly  in  one  of  the  puppies.  Three  minutes 
after  it  received  the  wound  the  animal  began  to  cry  out  moft  piteoufiy,  and 
ran  as  faft  as  poffible  from  one  corner  of  the  room  to  the  other.  So  it  con- 
tinued during  fix  minutes,  when  all  its  ftrength  being  exhaufted,  it  fell  upon 
the  ground,  was  taken  with  convulfions,  and  died  in  the  eleventh  minute. 
I  repeated  this  experiment  with  two  other  puppies,  with  a  cat  and  a  fowl, 
and  found  the  operation  of  the  poifon  in  all  of  them  the  fame:  none  of  thefe 
animals  furvived  above  thirteen  minutes. 

I  thought  it  neceffary  to  try  alfo  the  effec"i  of  the  poifon  given  inwardly, 
•which  I  did  in  the  following  manner.  I  diffolved  a  quarter  of  a  grain  of 
the  gum  in  half  an  ounce  of  arrack,  and  made  a  dog  of  feven  months  old 
drink  it.  In  feven  minutes  a  retching  enfued,  and  I  obferved,  at  the  fame 
time,  that  the  animal  was  delirious,  as  it  ran  up  and  down  the  room,  fell  on 
the  ground,  and  tumbled  about;  then  it  rofe  again,  cried  out  very  loud, 
and  in  about  half  an  hour  after  was  feized  with  convulfion*,  and  died.  I 
opened  the  body,  and  found  the  ftomach  very  much  inflamed,  as  the  intef- 
tines  were  in  fome  parts,  but  not  fa  much  as  the  ftomach.  There  was  a 
fmall  quantity  of  coagulated  blood  in  the  ftomach;  but  I  could  difcover  no 
orifice  from  which  it  could  have  iffued;  and  therefore  fuppofed  it  to  have 
been  fqueezed  out  of  the  lungs,  by  the  animal's  {training  while  it  was  vo- 
miting, 

From  thefe  experiments  I  have  been  convinced  that  the  gum  of  the  Upas 
Is  the  moft  dangerous  and  moft  violent  of  all  vegetable  poifons;  and  I  am 
apt  to  believe  that  it  greatly  contributes  to  the  unhealthinefs  of  that  ifland. 
Nor  is  this  the  only  evil  attending  it:  hundreds  of  the  natives  of  Java,  as 
well  as  Europeans,  are  yearly  deftroyed  and  treacheroufly  murdered  by  that 
poifon,  cither  internally  or  externally.  Every  man  of  quality  or  fafhion  has 
his  dagger  or  other  arms  poifoned  with  it ;  and  in  times  of  war  the  Malayans 
poifon  the  fprings  and  other  waters  with  it.  By  this  treacherous  practice 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BOA  UPAS.  i  3  $ 

tlie  Dutch  fuffered  greatly  during  the  laft  war,  as  it  occafioned  the  lofs  of 
half  their  army.  For  this  reafon  they  have  ever  fince  kept  fiih  in  the  fprings 
of  which  they  drink  the  water,  and  fentinels  are  placed  near  them,  whxj 
infpevft  the  waters  every  hour,  to  fee  whether  the  fifh  are  alive.  If  they 
march  with  an  army  or  body  of  troops  into  an  enemy's  country,  they  always 
carry  live  fifli  with  them,  which  they  throw  into  the  water  fome  hours  before 
they  venture  to  drink  it ;  by  which  means  they  have  been  able  to  prevent 
their  total  definition. 

This  account,  I  flatter  myfelf,  will  fatisfy  the  curiofity  of  my  readers,  and 
the  few  fadls  which  I  have  related  will  be  confidered  as  a  certain  proof  of 
the  exiftence  of  this  pernicious  tree,  and  its  penetrating  effedb. 

If  it  be  aficed  why  we  have  not  yet  any  more  fatisfa&ory  accounts  of  tKi* 
tree,  I  can  only  anfwer,  that  the  object  of  moft  travellers  to  that  part  of 
the  world  confifls  more  in  commercial  purfuits  than  in  the  ftudy  of  Natural 
Hiftory  and  the  advancement  of  Sciences.  Befides,  Java  is  fo  univerfally 
reputed  an  unhealthy  ifland,  that  rich  travellers  feldom  make  any  long  flay 
in  it;  and  others  want  money,  and  generally  are  too  ignorant  of  the  lan- 
guage to  travel,  in  order  to  make  inquiries.  In  future,  thofe  who  vifit  this 
ifland  will  now  probably  be  induced  to  make  it  an  object  of  their  refearches, 
and  will  furnifti  us  with  a  fuller  defcription  of  this  tree. 

I  will  therefore  only  add,  that  there  exifls  alfo  a  fort  of  Cajoe-Upas  on 
the  coaft  of  Macafier,  the  poifon  of  which  operates  nearly  in  the  fame  man- 
ner, but  is  not  half  fo  violent  or  malignant  as  that  of  Java,  and  of  which 
I  fliall  likewife  give  a  more  circumftantial  account  in  a  defcription  of  that 
ifland. — London  Magazine. 


Another  Account  of  tie  Boa  Upas,  or  Poifon-Tree  of  Macafler,  from  an  inau- 
gural Dffirtation  publijbed  by  Chrift.  Aejmelseus,  and  approved  by  Profeflbr 
Thunberg,  at  Upfal. 

DOCTOR  Aejmelajus  firfl  fpeaks  of  poifons  in  general,  enumerating  many 
virulent  ones  from  the  mineral  and  animal,  as  well  as  from  the  vegetable 
kingdoms  of  Nature.  Of  the  firft  he  mentions  arfenical,  mercurial,  and 
antimonial  preparations;  amongft  the  fecond  he  mentions  the  poifons  of  fe- 
veral  ferpents,  fifties,  and  infects;  and  amongft  the  laft  the  Curara  on  the 
bank  of  the  Oronoko,  and  the  Woorara  on  the  banks  of  the  Amazones,  and 
many  others.  But  he  thinks  the  ftrongeft  is  that  of  a  tree  hitherto  uncle- 
fcribcd,  known  by  the  name  of  Boa  Upas,  which  grows  in  many  of  the 
warmer  parts  of  India,  principally  in  the  iflands  of  Java,  Sumatra,  Borneo, 
Bali,  Macafler,  and  Celebes. 

Rumphius  teftifies  concerning  this  Indian  poifon,  that  it  was  more  terri- 
ble to  the  Dutch  then  any  warlike  inftrumenc;  it  is  by  him  ftyled  Arbor 
toxicaria,  and  he  mentions  two  fpecies  of  it,  which  he  terms  male  and  female ; 
and  defcribes  the  tree  as  having  a  thick  trunk,  with  fpreading  branches,  co- 
vered with  a  rough  dark  bark.  The  wood,  he  adds,  is  very  folid,  of  a  pale 


136  BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PAI^T  II. 

yellow,  and  variegated  with  black  fpots;  but  the  fructification  is  yet  un- 
known. 

Profeffor  Thunberg  fuppofes  the  Boa  Upas  to  be  a  Ceftrum,  or  a  tree  of 
the  fame  natural  family;  and  defcribes  a  Ceftrum  of  the  Cape  of  Good- 
Hope,  the  juice  of  which  the  Hottentots  mix  with  the  venom  of  a  certain 
ferpent,  which  is  faid  to  increafe  the  deleterious  quality  of  them  both. 

The  Boa  Upas  tree  is  eafily  recognifed  at  a  diftance,  being  always  folita- 
ry,  the  foil  around  it  being  barren,  and,  as  it  were,  burnt  up;  the  dried 
juice  is  dark  brown,  liquifying  by  heat,  like  other  refins.  It  is  colle&ed 
with  the  greateft  caution,  the  perfon  having  his  head,  hands,  and  feet  care- 
fully covered  with  linen,  that  his  whole  body  may  be  protected  from  the 
vapour  as  well  as  from  the  droppings  of  the  tree.  No  one  can  approach  fo 
near  as  to  gather  the  juice,  hence  they  ftipply  bamboos,  pointed  like  a  fpear, 
which  they  thrufl  obliquely,  with  great  force,  into  the  trunk;  the  juice  ooz- 
ing out  gradually  fills  the  upper  joint ;  and  the  nearer  the  root  the  wound 
is  made,  the  more  virulent  the  poifon  is  fuppofed  to  be.  Sometimes  up- 
wards of  twenty  reeds  are  left  fixed  in  the  tree  for  three  or  four  days,  that 
the  juice  may  collect  and  harden  in  the  cavities;  the  upper  joint  of  the  reed 
is  then  cut  off  from  the  remaining  part,  the  concreted  juice  is  formed  into 
globules  or  fticks,  and  is  kept  in  hollow  reeds,  carefully  clofed,  and  wrap- 
ped in  tenfold  linen.  It  is  every  week  taken  out  to  prevent  its  becoming- 
mouldy,  which  fpoils  it.  The  deleterious  quality  appears  to  be  volatile, 
fince  it  lofes  much  of  its  power  in  the  time  of  one  year,  and  in  a  few  years 
becomes  totally  effete. 

The  vapour  of  the  tree  produces  numbncfs  and  fpafrns  of  the  limbs,  and 
if  any  one  ftands  under  it  bare-headed,  he  lofes  his  hair;  and  if  a  drop  falls 
on  him,  violent  inflammation  enfues.  Birds  which  fit  on  the  branches  a 
Ihort  time,  drop  down  dead,  and  can  even  with  difficulty  fly  over  it;  and 
not  only  no  vegetables  grow  under  it,  but  the  ground  is  barren  a  Hone's  caft 
around  it. 

A  perfon  wounded  by  a  dart  poifoned  with  this  juice  feels  immediately  a 
fcnfe  of  heat  over  his  whole  body, .  with  great  vertigo,  to  which  death  foon 
iucceeds.  A  perfon  wounded  with  the  Java  poifon  was  affected  with  tre- 
mor of  the  limbs,  and  ftarting  of  the  tendons  in  five  minutes,  and  died  in 
kfs  than  fixteen  minutes,  with  marks  of  great  anxiety;  the  corpfe,  in  a  few 
hours,  was  covered  with  petechial  fpots,  the  face  became  tumid  and  lead- 
coloured,  and  the  white  part  of  the  eye  became  yellow. 

The  natives  try  the  ftrength  of  their  poifon  by  a  fingular  teft ;  fome  of  the 
expreffed  juice  of  the  root  of  Amomum  Zerumbet  is  mixed  with  a  little 
water,  and  a  bit  of  the  poifonous  gum  or  refin  is  dropped  into  it;  an  effer- 
vefcence  inftantly  takes  place,  by  the  violence  of  which  they  judge  of  the 
ilrength  of  the  poifon.— What  air  can  be  extricated  during  this  effervefcence? 
— This  experiment  is  faid  to  be  dangerous  to  the  operator. 

As  the  juice  is  capable  of  being  diffolved  in  arrack,  and  is  thence  fuppofed 
to  be  principally  of  a  refinous  nature,  the  Profeffor  does  not  credit  that  foun- 
tains have  been  poifoned  with  it. 

This  poifon  has  been  employed  as  a  punifhment  for   capital  crimes  in 


FAIRY-SCENE.  137 

Macaffer  and  other  iflands;  inthofe  cafes  fome  experiments  have  heen  made, 
and  when  a  finger  only  had  been  wounded  with  a  dart,  the  immediate  am- 
putation of  it  did  not  fave  the  criminal  from  death. 

The  poifon  from  what  has  been  termed  the  female  tree,  is  lefs  deleterious 
than  the  other,  and  has  been  ufed  chiefly  in  hunting ;  the  carcafes  of  animals 
thus  dcflroyed  are  eaten  with  impunity.  The  poifon-juice  is  faid  to  be  ufed 
externally  as  a  remedy  againft  other  poifons,  in  the  form  of  a  plafter;  alfo 
to  be  ufed  internally  for  the  fame  purpofe;  and  is  believed  to  alleviate  the 
pain,  and  extravft  the  poifon  of  venomous  infedls  fooner  than  any  other  ap- 
plication. The  author  concludes  that  thefe  accounts  have  been  exaggerated 
by  Mahomedan  priefts,  who  have  perfuaded  their  followers  that  the  Prophet 
Mahomet  planted  this  noxious  tree  as  a  punifhment  for  the  fins  of  mankind. 

An  abftra<5l  of.  this  Difiertation  of  C.  Aejmelseus  is  given  in  Dr.  Dun- 
can's Medical  Commentaries  for  the  year  I79Qj  Decad.  3d.  vol.  v. 


FAIRY-SCENE 
from  Mr.  Mundy's  Neediuood  Forejl.      Referred  to  in  Ganto  IV.  1.  35, 

HERE,  feen  of  old,  the  elfin  race 
"With  fprightly  vigils  mark'd  the  place; 
Their  gay  procefiions  charm'd  the  fight, 
Gilding  the  lucid  noon  of  night; 
Or,  when  obfcure  the  midnight  hour, 
With  glow-worm  lantherns  hung  the  bower. 
— Hark ! — the  foft  lute ! — along  the  green 
Moves  with  majeftic  ftep  the  QUEEN  ! 
Attendant  Fays  around  her  throng, 
And  trace  the  dance  or  raife  the  fong; 
Or  touch  the  ftirill  reed,  as  they  trip, 
With  finger  light  and  ruby  lip. 

High,  on  her  brow  fublime,  is  borne 
One  fcarlet  woodbine's  tremulous  horn; 
A  gaudy  Bee-bird's*  triple  plume 
Sheds  on  her  neck  its  waving  gloom; 
With  filvery  goffamer  entwin'd 
Stream  the  luxuriant  locks  behind. 
Thin  folds  of  tangled  network  break 
In  airy  waves  adown  her  neck; — 
.,  Warp'd  in  his  loom,  the  fpider  fpread 
The  far-diverging  rays  of  thread, 
Then  round  and  r<  und  with  fhuttle  fine 
Inwrought  the  undulating  line; — 

*  The  Lumming-bird. 

PART  II.  S 


BOTANIC  GARDEN.  PART  II, 

Scarce  hides  the  woof  her  bofom's  fnow, 

One  pearly  nipple  peeps  below. 

One  rofe-leaf  forms  her  crimfon  veft, 

The  loofe  edge  croffes  o'er  her  breaft ; 

And  one  tranflucent  fold,  that  fell 

From  the  tall  lily's  ample  bell, 

Forms  with  fvveet  grace  her  mow-white  train, 

Flows,  as  fhe  fteps,  and  fweeps  the  plain. 

Silence  and  Night  enchanted  gaze, 

And  Hefper  hides  his  vanquifh'd  rays ! — 

Now  the  waked  reed-finch  fwells  his  throat, 
And  night-larks  trill  their  mingled  note  ; 
Yet  hufh'd  in  mofs  with  writhed  neck 
The  blackbird  hides  his  golden  beak ; 
Charm'd  from  his  dream  of  love  he  wakes, 
Opes  his  gay  eye,  his  plumage  makes, 
And,  ftretching  wide  each  ebon  wing, 
Firft  in  low  whifpers  tries  to  fing; 
Then  founds  his  clarion  loud,  and  thrills 
The  moon-bright  lawns,  and  fhadowy  hills. 
Silent  the  choral  Fays  attend, 
And  then  their  {liver  voices  blend, 
Each  mining  thread  of  found  prolong, 
And  weave  the  magic  woof  of  fong. 
Pleafed  Philomela  takes  her  ftand 
On  high,  and  leads  the  Fairy  band, 
Pours  fweet  at  intervals  her  ftrain, 
And  guides  with  beating  wing  the  train. 
Whilft  interrupted  Zephyrs  bear 
Hoarfc  murmurs  from  the  diftant  wear; 
And  at  each  paufe  is  heard  the  fwell 
Of  Echo's  foft  fymphonious  fhell. 


THE 

BOTANIC  GARDEN, 


CATALOGUE 


POETIC  EXHIBITION. 


CANTO  t. 

GPage. 

ROUP  of  infers  ia 

Tender  hufband  12 

Self-admirer  12 

Rival  lovers  13 

Coquet  13 

Platonic  wife  14 

Monfter-hufband  16 

Rural  happinefs  1 7 

Clandeftine  marriage  17 

Sympathetic  lovers  17 

Ninon  d'Enclos  19 

Harlots  19 

Giants  21 

Mr.  Wright's  paintings  22 

Thaleftris  23 

Autumnal  fcene  23 

Dervife  proceffion  24 

Lady  in  full  drefs  25 

Lady  on  a  precipice  26 

Palace  in  the  fea  27 

Vegetable  lamb  39 

Whale  29 

Senfibility  29 

Mountain-fcene  by  night  32 

Lady  drinking  water  33 

Lady  and  cauldron  33 

Medea  and  JEfon  34 

Forlorn  nymph  34 

Galatea  on  the  fea  36 

Lady  frozen  to  a  ftatue  36 


CANTO  II. 

Page. 

Air-balloon  of  Montgolfier  46 

Arts  of  weaving  and  fpinning  47 
Arkwright's  cotton  mills  48 

Invention  of  letters,  figures,  and 

crotchets  49 

Mrs.  Delany's  paper-garden  51 

Mechanifm  of  a  watch,  and  de- 

fign  for  its  cafe  5* 

Time,  hours,  moments  5  a 

Transformation  of  Nebuchadnezzar53 
St.  Anthony  preaching  to  fifh  55 
Sorcerefs  56 

Mifs  Crewe's  drawings  56 

Song  to  May  57 

Froft  fcene  58 

Difcovery  of  the  bark  58 

Mofes  ftriking  the  rock  60 

Dropfy  60 

Mr.  Howard  and  prifons  6 a 

CANTO  III. 

Witch  and  imps  in  a  diurch  69 

Infpired  Prieftefs  70 

Fufeli's  night-mare  71 
Cave  of  Thor  and  fubterranean 

Naiads  73 

Medea  and  children  75 

Palmira  weeping  78 

Group  of  wild  creatures  drinking  79 

Poifon-tree  of  Java  79 


146 


BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


PART  IT, 


Page.  | 

Time  and  hours  80  i 

Wounded  deer                          ,  81  ! 

Lady  (hot  in  battle  82 

Harlots  83 

Laocoon  and  his  foul  84 

Drunkards  and  difeafes  85 

Prometheus  and  the  vulture  85 
Lady  burying  her  child  in  the  plague  86 

Mofes  concealed  on  the  Nile  89 

Slavery  of  the  Africans  89 

"Weeping  mufe  9° 

CANTO  IV. 

Maid  of  night  ioi 

Fairies  IO2 

Eledlric  lady  -103 
Shadrec,  Mefhec  and  Abednego, 

in  the  fiery  furnace  104 

Shepherdeffes  104 

Song  to  Echo  105 

Kingdom  of  China  105 

Lady  and  diftaff  To6 

Cupid  fpinning  106 

Lady  walking  in  fnow  107 

Children  at  play  107 

Venus  and  Loves  ic8 


Matlock  Bath 

Angel  bathing 

Mermaid  and  Nereids 

Lady  in  fait 

Lot's  wife 

Lady  in  regimentals 

Dejanira  in  a  lion's  &in 


Page., 
109 
no 
III 

IIZ 

113 

114 
114 


Offspring  from  the  marriage  of 

the  Rofe  and  the  Nightingale  115 

Parched  deferts  in  Africa  116 

Turkifh  lady  in  an  undrefs  117 

Ice-fcene  in  Lapland  118 

Lock-lomond  by  moon-light  119. 

Hero  and  Leander  120 
Gnome-hufband  and  palace  under 

ground  121 

Lady  inclofed  in  a  fig  1 21 

Sylph-hufband  iaa 

Marine  cave                            .  1 22 

Proteus  lover  123. 

Lady  on  a  Dolphin  124 

Lady  bridling  a  Pard  124 

Lady  faluted  by  a  Swan  124 

Hymeneal  proceffion  124 

Night  I2jf 


THE 


BOTANIC  GARDEN 


CONTENTS  OF   THE   NOTES. 


OEEDJ 


)S  of  Cannaufed  for  pray- 
er-beads 

Stems  and  leaves  of  Callitriche 
jib  matted  together,  as  they 
Hoat  on  the  water,  as  to  bear  a 
perfon  walking  on  them 

The  female  in  Collinfonia  ap- 
proaches firft  to  one  of  the 
males,  and  then  to  the  other 

Females  in  NigellaandEpilobium 
bend  towards  the  males  for 
fome  days,  and  then  leave  them 

The  ftigma,  or  head  of  the  fe- 
male, in  Spartium  (common 
broom)  is  produced  amongft 
the  higher  fet  of  males;  but 
when  the  keel-leaf  opens,  the 
piftilfuddenly  twifts  roundlike 
a  French-horn,  and  places  the 
iligma  amidft  the  lower  fet  of 
males 

The  two  lower  males  in  Ballota 
become  mature  before  the  two 
higher;  and,  when  their  duft 
is  flied,  turn  outwards  from 
the  female 

The  plantsof  the  clafsTwo  Po\V- 
ers,  with  naked  feeds,  are  all 
aromatic 

Of  thefe,  Marum  andNepeta  are 
delightful  to  cats 

The  filaments  in  Meadia,Borago, 
Cyclamen, Solanum,&c.fhewn 
by  reafoning  to  be  the  moft  un- 
changeable parts  of  thofe 
flowers 

Rudiments  of  two  hinder  wings 
are  feen  in  the  clafs  Diptera, 
or  two-winged  infects 

Teats  of  male  animals 


Filaments  without  anthers  in  Cur- 
cuma, Linum,  &c.  and  ftyles 
without  ftigmas  in  many 
plants,  fhew  the  advance  of  the 
works  of  nature  to  wards  great- 
er perfection  15 

Double  flowers,or  vegetablemon- 
fters,  how  produced  15, 16 

The  calyx  and  lower  feries  of 
petals  not  changed  in  double 
flowers  15 

Difperfion  of  the  duft  in  nettles 
and  other  plants  16 

Cedar  and  Cyprefs  unperifhable       16 

An  thoxanthum  gives  the  fragrant 
fcent  to  hay  17 

Viviparous  plants  :  the  Aphis  is 
viviparous  in  fummer,  and  ovi- 
parous in  autumn  17 

Irritability  of  the  ftamen  of  the 
phnts  of  the  clafs  Syngenefia, 
or  Confederate  males  17 

Some  of  the  males  in  Lychnis, 
and  other  flowers,  arrive  foon- 
er  at  their  maturity  18 

Males  approach  the  female  in 
Gloriofa,  Fritillaria,  and  Kal- 
mia  1 8 

Contrivances  to  deftroy  infects 
in  Silene,  Dionrea  mufcipula, 
Arum  mufcivorum,  Dypfacus, 
&c.  19 

Some  bell-flowers  clofe  at  night; 
others  hang  the  mouths  down- 
wards; others  nod  and  turn 
from  the  wind ;  ftamens  bound 
down  to  the  piftil  in  Amaryllis 
formofiflima ;  piftil  is  crooked 
in  Hemerocallis  flava,  yellow 
day-lily  ao 


BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


PART  II. 


Thorns  and  prickles  defigned  for 
the  defence  of  the  plant;  tall 
Hollies  have  no  prickles  above 
the  reach  of  cattle  21 

Bird-lime  from  the  bark  of  Hol- 
lies like  elaftic  gum  21 
Adanfonia  the  largeft  treeknown ; 

its  dimenfions  22 

Bulbous  roots  contain  the  embry- 
on  flower,  feen  by  difiecting  a 
tulip-root  2 

Flowers  of  Colchicum  and  Ha- 
mamelisappearin  autumn,  and 
ripen  their  feed  in  the  fpring 
following  24 

Sun-flower  turns  to  the  fun  by 

nutation,  not  by  gyration  24 

Difperfion  of  feeds  24 

Drofera  catches  flies  25 

Of  the  nectary,  its  ftructure  to 

preferve  the  honey  from  infects     26 
Curious  probofcis  of  the  Sphinx 

Convolvuli  26 

Final  caufe  of  the  refemblance  of 
fome  flowers  to  infects,  as  the 
Bee-orchis  26 

In  fome  plants  of  the  clafs  Tetra- 
dynamia,  or  Four  Powers,  the 
two  fhorter  ftamens,  when  at 
maturity,  rife  as  high  as  the 
others  26 

Ice  in  the  caves  on  Terierif, 
which  were  formerly  hallowed 
by  volcanic  fires  27 

Some  parafitesdo  not  injure  trees, 

as  Tillandfia  and  Epid-endrum      27 
Mofles  growing  on  trees  injure 

them  27 

Marriages  of  plants  necefTary  to 

be  celebrated  in  the  air  28 

Infects  with  legs  on  their  backs        28 
Scarcity  of  grain  in  wet  feafons       28 
Tartarian  lamb;  ufe  of  down  on 
vegetables;  air,glafs,wax,and 
fat,  are  bad  conduct  ore  of  heat ; 
mow  does  not  moiften  the  liv- 
ing animals  buried  in  it,  illuf- 
trated  by  burning  camphor  in 
fnow  28 

Of  the  collapfe  of  the  fenfitive 

plant  29 

Birds  of  paflage  30 

The  acquired  habits  of  plants          31 

Irritability  of  plants  increafed  by 

previous  expofure  to  cold  3 1 


Lichen  produces  the  firft  vegeta- 
tion on  rocks  32 
Plants  holding  water  33: 
Madder    colours   the    bones  of 

young  animals  33. 

Colours  of  animals  ferve  to  con- 
ceal them  33 
Warm  bathing  retards  old  age          34 
Male  flowers  of  Valilneria  de- 
tach    themfelves    from    the 
plant,  and  float  to  the  female 
ones                                                34 
Air  in  the  cells  of  plants,  its  va- 
rious ufes                                        35 
How  Mr.  Day  probably  loft  his 

life  in  his  diving-fhip  36 

Air-bladders  of  fi-fh  36 

Star-jelly  is  voided  by  Herons         37 
Intoxicating  mufhrooms  37 

Mufhrooms  grow  without  light, 

and  approach  to  animal  nature     37 
Seeds  of  Tillandfia  fly  on  long 
threads,   like    fpiders  on  the 
gofiamer  45 

Account  of  cotton  mills  48 

nvention    of     letters,    figures, 

crotchets  49 

Mrs.  Delany's  and  Mrs.  North's 

paper-gardens  51 

The  horologe  of  Flora  51 

The  white  petals  of  Helleborus 
niger  become  firft  red,  and  then 
change  into  a  green  calyx     _       53 
Berries  of  Menifpernum  intoxi- 
cate fiih  54 
Effects  of  opium  55 
Paintings  by  Mifs  Crewe                56 
Petals  of  Ciftus  and  CEnothera 

continue  but  a  few  hours  57 

Method  of  collecting  the  gum 

from  Ciftus  by  leathern  thongs     5  7 
Difcovery  of  the  bark  58 

Foxglove,  how  ufcd  in  dropfics       60 
Bifhop  of  Marfeilles  and  Lord 

Mayor  of  London  6l 

Superftitious  ufesof  plants,  thedi- 

vining  rod,  animal magnetifm      69 
ntoxicationofthe  Pythian  prieft- 
efs,  poifon  from  Laurel  leaves, 
and  from  cherry  kernels  70 

Sleep  confifts  in  the  abolition  of 
voluntary  power ;  night-mare 
explained  7% 

ndian  fig  emits  {lender  cords 
from  its  fummit  7* 


PART  II.        CONTENTS  OF  THE  NOTES. 


Cave  of  Thor  in  Derbyfliire,  and 
fubterraneous  rivers  explained  73 

The  capfule  of  the  Geranium 
makes  an  hygrometer ;  Barley 
creeps  out  of  a  barn  74 

Mr.  Edgworth's  creeping  hy- 
grometer 75 

Flower  of  Fraxinella  flames  on 
the  approach  of  a  candle  76 

Effential  oils  narcotic,  poifonous, 
deleterious  to  infects  76 

Dew-drops  from  Mancinella  blif- 
ter  the  {kin  77 

Ufes  of  poifonous  juices  in  the 
vegetable  economy  77 

The  fragrance  of  plants  a  part 
of  their  defence  77 

The  fting  and  poifon  of  a  nettle       7  7 

Vapour  fromLobeliafuffbcative; 
unwholefomenefs  of  perfumed 
hair-powder  78 

Ruins  of  Palmira  78 

The  poifon-tree  of  Java  79, 129 

Tulip  roots  die  annually  So 

Hyacinth  and  Ranunculus  roots      81 

Vegetable  conteftforair  and  light     83 

Some  voluble  items  turn  E.  S.\V. 
and  others  W.  S.  E.  83 

Tops  of  white  Bryony  as  grate- 
ful as  Afparagus  84 

Fermentation  con  verts  fugar  into 
fpirit,  food  into  poifon  85 

Fable  of  Prometheus  applied  to 
dram-drinkers  85 

Cyclamen  buries  its  feeds  and  tri- 
folium  fubterraneum  86 

Pits  dug  to  receive  the  dead  in 
the  plague  87 

Lakes  of  America  confift  of  frefh 
water  87 

The  feeds  of  Caflia  &fome  others 
are  carried  from  America,  and 
thrown  on  the  coafts  of  Nor- 
way and  Scotland  87 

Of  the  Gulph-ftream  88 

Wonderful  change  predicted  in 
the  gulph  of  Mexico  88 

In  the  flowers  of  Cactus  grandi- 
florus,  and  Ciftus,  fome  of  the 
ftamens  are  perpetually  bent  to 
the  piftil  IOI 

Ny&anthes  and  others  are  only 
fragrant  in  the  night ;  Cucur- 
bita  lagenaria  clofes  when  the 
fun  mines  on  it  103 


Tropseolum,  nafturtion,  emits 
fparks  in  the  twilight  103 

Nectary  on  its  calyx  103 

Phofphorefcent  lights  in  the  c- 
vening  103 

Hot  embers  eaten  by  bull-frogs     103 

Long  filaments  of  graffes,  the 
caufe  of  bad  feed-wheat  104 

Chinefe  hemp  grew  in  England 
above  14  feet  in  five  months  106 

Roots  of  fnow-drop  and  hyacinth 
infipid,  like  orchis  107 

Orchis  will  ripen  its  feeds  if  the 
new  bulb  be  cut  off  IO? 

Proliferous  flowers  107 

The  wax  on  the  candle-berry  myr- 
tle faid  to  be  made  by  infects  1 08 

The  warm  fprings  of  Matlock 
produced  by  the  condenfation 
of  {team  raifed  from  great 
depths  by  fubterraneous  fires  109 

Air  feparated  from  water  by  the 
attraction  of  points  to  water 
being  lefs  than  that  of  the  par- 
ticles of  water  to  each  other  I  lo 

Minute  divilion  of  fub-aquatic 
leaves  HO 

Water-crefs,  and  other  aquatic 
plants,  inhabit  all  climates  ill 

Butomus  efculent ;  Lotus  of  E- 
gypt;  Nymphasa  III 

Ocymum  covered  with  fait  every 
night  II* 

Salt  a  remote  caufe  of  fcrophula, 
and  immediate  caufe  of  fea- 
fcurvy  Iia 

Coloured  fpatha  of  Arum,  and 
blotched  leaves,  if  they  ferve 
the  purpofe  of  a  coloured  petal  114 

Tulip  roots  with  a  red  cuticle 
produce  red  flowers  114 

Of  vegetable  mules  the  internal 
parts,  as  thofe  of  fructification, 
refemble  the  female  parent ; 
and  the  external  parts,  the 
male  one  1 15 

The  fame  occurs  in  animal  mules, 
as  the  common  mule  and  the 
hinnus,  and  in  fheep  US 

The  wind  called  Harmattanfrom 
volcanic  eruptions ;  fome  epi- 
demic coughs  or  influenzahave 
the  fame  origin  Il6 

Fifh  killed  in  the  fea,  by  dry  fum- 
mers,  inAfia  117 


BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


PART  II. 


Hedyfarum  gyrans  perpetually 
moves  its  leaves  like  the  refpi- 
ration  of  animals  117 

Plants  poffefs  a  voluntary  power 
of  motion  117 

Loud  cracks  from  ice-mountains 
explained  119 

Mufchus  corallinus  vegetates  be- 
low the  fnow,  where  the  heat 
is  always  about  40.  119 

^uick  growth  of  vegetables  in 
northern  latitudes,  after  the 
folution  of  the  fnows,  ex- 
plained 119 

The  Rail  fleeps  in  the  fnow  119 

Conferva  asgagropila  rolls  about 
the  bottom  of  lakes  119 

Lycoperdon  tuber,  truffle,  re-» 
quires  no  light  I2O 

Account  of  caprification  121 


Figs  wounded  with  a  ftraw,  and 
pears  and  plumbs  wounded  by 
infeds,  ripen  fooner,  and  be- 
come Tweeter  iaz 

Female  figs  clofed  on  all  fides, 
fuppofed  to  be  monfters  iat 

Bafaltic  columns  produced  by  vol- 
canos,  {hewn  by  their  form  123 

Byffus  floats  on  the  fea  in  the  day, 
and  finks  in  the  night  123 

Conferva  polymorpha  twice 
changes  its  colour  and  its  form  123 

Some  feed-veffels  and  feedsrefem- 
ble  infe&s  133 

Individuality  of  flowers  not  de- 
ftroyed  by  the  number  of  males 
or  females  which  they  contain  124 

Trees  are  fwarms  of  buds,  which 
are  individuals.  12,4 


THE 


BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


INDEX 


NAMES  OF  THE  PLANTS. 


ADONIS  .......  124 

^Egagropila  ........   119 

A'icea  ..........  •''"'£  £ 

Amaryllis     ........     20 

Anemone  .........     30 

Anthoxanthum  ......  \     17 

Arum  ......  .....   114 

Avena    ..........  104 


Barometz 

jBellis 

Byssus 


107 
12 


Caclus 101 

Calendula 51 

Callitriche 12 

Canna 12 

Cannabis 106 

Capri-ficus 121 

Carlina ,    4$ 

Caryophy'ilus  .  ......  115 

Cassia 87 

Cereus 101 

Chondrilla 17 

Chunda 117 

Cinchona ij8 

Circaea 69 

Cistus 57 

Cocculus 154 

Colchicum 24 

PART  II. 


Collinsonia  ........  13 

Conferva 119,  123 

Cupressus  .  , 15 

Curcuma 14 

Cuscuta 83 

Cyclamen    . 86 

Cyperus 49 

Dianthus    .........115 

Dictamnus 76 

Digitalis 60 

Dodecatheon 14 

Draba  , 26 

Drosera 25 

Dyxpsacus  .........  33 

Ficus  .  .  .  .  , 72 

Fucus no 

Fraxinella 76 

Galanthus 107 

Genista 13 

Gloriosa 18 

Gossy'pium 48 

Hedy'sarum '.  .  .  117 

Helianthus 24 

Helltborus 53 

Hippomane 77 


146 


BOTANIC  GARDEN. 


PART  IT, 


Ilex 2,1 

Impatiens 74 

Iris 15 

Kleinhovia 22 

Lapsana ij  i 

Lauro-cerasus 70 

Lichen .  32 

Linum 47 

Lobelia 78 

Lonicera 2,6 

Lychnis 18 

Lycoperdon ........  1 2,0 

Mancinella 77 

Meadia 14 

Melissa 13 

Menispermum    ...,.«  54 

Mimosa 29 

Mtischus 119 

Nymphaea 51 

Nelumbo 118 

'Ocymum ,112 

Orchis 80 

Osmvinda 17 


Os'yris 


16 


Papaver  ..........  55 

Papy'rus     .........  49 

Plantago    .........  16 

Polymorpha  ........  123 

Polypodium  ........  28 

Prunus    ...  .......  70 

Rubia  ...........  33 

Silene  .......  ....  19, 

Trapa  ...........  no 

Tremella   ........  -.  36 

Tropae'olum    .......  103 

Truffelia    .........  120 

Tiilipa    ......  .  .  ,  .  ^3 

Ulva    .......  ....  35 

Upas    .....  .....  .  79 

Urtica  ...........  77 

Vallisneria     ........  34, 

Viscum  .........  .  2ii 

Vitis     ...........  85 


Zostera 


THE  END. 


ERRATA. 

PART  I. 

In  the  Argument  of  the  fourth  Canto,  page  96,  line  8,  for  *  165,' 
read  177,  and  add  12  to  each  succeeding  number  of  the  lines 
throughout  the  page. 

Page  185, 1.  8  from  the  bottom,  for  '  porportion,'  read  proportion, 
1 86, 1.  2,  of  the  note,  for  *  Borland,'  read  Portland. 
198,1.17,  for  '  ceystallization,'  read  crystallization. 

PART  II. 

Page  112,  the  following  note  should  have  been  inserted  at  the 
bottom  of  the  page. 

.  I.  239.    Mefembryanthemum  cryftallinum. 


Direftions  to  the  Binder  for  placing  the  Engravings. 

PART  I. 

Mr.  Wedgwood's  Cameos  to  face  page  54 

Cyprepedium  122, 

Erythrina  Corallodendron  124 

Portland  Vase  186 

first  Compartment  187 

second  Compartment  188 

Handles  and  Bottom  191 

Section  of  the  Earth  1 99 

PART  II. 

The  two  plates  of  Plants  to  come  in  between  pages       10  and  i  r 

Meadia  to  face  page  14 

Gloriosa  Superba  j8 

Dionaea  Muscipula  19 

Amaryllis  formosissima  so 

Vallisneria  Spiralis  34 

Hedysarum  gyrans  117 

Apocynum  androsaemifolium  127 


§3*  IT  was  the  intention  of  the  publiihers  of  this 
work,  agreeable  to  an  article  of  their  propofals,  to 
have  inferted,  in  this  place,  a  lift  of  the  fubfcribers* 
names;  but  it  has  been  found  impracticable,  from 
the  difficulty  of  collecting  the  fubfcription-papers  from 
every  part  of  the  United  Sut«»,  to  comply  with  that 
article,  without  a  very  confiderable  delay  in  the  pub- 
lication. It  has  therefore  been  thought  proper,  from 
the  preffing  demands  for  the  book,  to  publifli  it  at 
this  time,  and  without  any  names;  the  omiffion  of 
the  whole  being  deemed  preferable  to  the  infertiofl  of 
but  a  fmall  part  of  them, 


